Truth
by LizzeXX
Summary: Thor/OC - Thor and Athena have returned to Earth, to the Avengers, in order to retrieve Loki's scepter...and found far more than they bargained for when a new enemy, Ultron, is created by one of their own. Forced to confront their darkest fears, Thor and Athena's strength and will shall be tested. Can they find the will to fight on when Ultron attacks? Fourth in the Heroic Hymns.
1. Recovery

A/N: Hello! :) This is the **fourth story** in my Thor/OC story, the Heroic Hymns, Truth. The first and third story (Humility and Strategy) are listed under the THOR section of this site while the second story, and this one, are under the Avengers as it follows the sequence of movies in the Thor series. This is not a Jane/Thor story nor a Thor/Sif one either, but a Thor/OC ;) This is going to be my attempt at working an OC into the Age of Ultron movie so it will revolve around the events of the movie, but also includ some original segments :) This story will be about 10 chapters long, updated daily :)

To give a short description of my OC, Athena: She is a tall woman, pale, with blonde hair that is a bit long and gray eyes. She tends to wear her hair half up, half down, but with a bun in the top half. Her bun has a small stick in it that Thor gave her that is really a very delicate dagger. She tends to wear brown leather armor, a breastplate from her brother, with a coin necklace under it. She has a charm bracelet made by her siblings that she doesn't wear often. For a reference, I picture the OC, Athena, to look something like Rosamund Pike :)

I hope you enjoy! :)

~8~ is a scene break

Disclaimer...I don't own Thor or the Avengers or things from the movie/comic, just my OC and some original aspects...otherwise we'd probably have more movies coming out in a year lol :)

~8~

Recovery

It was complete chaos, the battle that the Avengers had found themselves in as they attempted to infiltrate a HYDRA base in the country of Sokovia. There had been reports that Loki's scepter, the very same that had been able to control Agent Barton and cause the massive destruction to New York, had fallen into the hands of HYDRA, that they had secreted it away to the small, unassuming country. Worse yet, the scientists of HYDRA had also begun to experiment on humans, much like one Steve Rogers had been experimented on to enhance them and any latent abilities they might have. It was, therefore, the duty and obligation of the Avengers to shut the base down and collect any information that HYDRA had gathered about what they had been researching and doing.

The forests outside the base were swarmed by the Avengers, Iron Man was flying high above, firing at the soldiers that were trying to attack his team. Captain America was on the ground, fighting on foot, as was the Black Widow. The Hulk was rampaging through the trees, taking out not just soldiers but their war machines as well. All the while Hawkeye aimed his bow and arrow, taking out the other soldiers at a distance.

No one, though, was enjoying the thrill of the fight more than the god of thunder, Thor, and the goddess of wisdom, Athena, the two 'immortals' having thrown themselves into the middle of all the chaos with an over-excitement that could only come from lack of fights.

When they had apprehended Loki during the battle of New York, they had entrusted his scepter to SHIELD, after all it was a majority of their men and women that had been harmed by Loki's use of it. If they could give the humans a way to study the specter, to find a way to ensure no other would fall under the scepter's control, it would be worth it. As far as they had been aware, the scepter had been carefully guarded, was being studied, and progress was being made…

But it all changed when one disgruntled man, sympathetic to HYDRA, had been made an offer he couldn't refuse. As a result, he had killed his lab partner and stolen the scepter, delivering it to HYDRA, and now it was up to them to recover it. This time, however, they would NOT be leaving the scepter in the hands of the humans but take it back with them to Asgard. They would not risk this happening again for, as wary as they were of SHIELD to begin with, they now understood that HYDRA was far worse and had far darker intentions for the world. They were not the sort the scepter should be available to and they had to get it back.

That didn't mean that this mission couldn't be enjoyable though, the fight so far was already proving worthwhile for them to have joined the Avengers once more. They had left Asgard shortly after Loki had fallen to spend time in Athena's homeland, on Olympus, allowing Thor to meet the family she always spoke of.

It had been an…interesting experience, if one put it lightly.

But Thor had appreciated the look into Athena's world and family. He had gotten to know her siblings and other relations very well…and made sure to stay far, FAR away from others. Her sister, Ditey she called her, Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was someone he was sure he would have nightmares about for ages to come. The woman did love Athena, very much so, and she had gone to some rather…extreme lengths to ensure that his heart was as true for Athena as he claimed.

Nightmares had certainly followed.

Her other siblings were of mixed reactions to him, whether from him being Asgardian or having intentions with her he wasn't sure. It seemed like half liked him well enough, like Apollo, others wished to pummel him into the ground, challenged him at every turn, like Ares, others hated him on principle, such as Artemis. The woman didn't seem pleased that Athena had fallen in love at all, though Aphrodite, once she had realized his heart was set on Athena, had become quite a large supporter.

Her father though, he honestly wasn't sure if he should view the man as worse than Odin or better. He could see such care, such genuine love for his daughter in the man's eyes, it was clear he favored Athena very much, which could be because she was the only product of his first wife and his love, but whatever the case, the man loved his daughter. He was so warm and kind and affectionate to her, which was something he sometimes had a hard time remembering if his own father had been. But, at the same time, the man was downright terrifying to HIM when he'd realized that his daughter had found a man she was serious about.

He was the God of Thunder, an experienced warrior, a king in his own right, near enough, practically invincible!

Yet he had been truly on edge around the Almighty Zeus.

The man was king of Olympus, a God of Thunder as well, a hardened warrior as well, even worse…he was Athena's father. He was the one whose blessing he needed to continue to court Athena. For the first time in his life he had actually doubted his ability to see the quest through.

But he had, in the end, he had earned the man's approval, and that was all that mattered.

And, thinking of Athena, Thor looked over, nearly laughing despite them being in the middle of the battle, to see Athena land a hard punch to a soldier that had tried to sneak up on her and had the misfortune to step on a branch, alerting her to his presence. The smile on her face, he knew, mirrored his own, at the thrill of the fight around them.

Things had been…calm, in Olympus, very calm, almost eerily calm. He had started to go stir-crazy, as the humans would call it, and he could understand why Athena had been so desperate to leave there and come to Asgard where things were a little more active. Everything was white and peaceful, so cut off from the Earth and the other realms that there was little to do for action. Athena had not been joking when she said the only way for her family to begin to heal from their faults and mistakes was to cut themselves off from the humans entirely. Had it not been for Ares wanting to 'test' him in combat at all turns, and Athena needing to have something to do as well, he was sure he would have gone mad. He had actually been quite glad when the time had come for them to return to Asgard, only for Apollo to warn them that, while he hadn't had a vision, he had experienced some rather disturbing omens about Earth, warning them to go there first.

And so they had, checking in with the Avengers to ensure that all was well, to find out it very much was NOT. They had decided that they could not return to Asgard without the scepter, it could cause too much destruction if left to the wrong hands, and it was in the worst hands possible. So they had made it their mission to see the scepter recovered, no matter how long it took. And now, after ages of searching, they had finally found where it was being held and now there they were, in the middle of a heated battle and glad for it.

Athena whirled around when Thor's hammer flew past her, slamming into a soldier a few feet before her and sailing back behind her, "Cheater!" she called to him over the fray, "He was mine!"

Thor just grinned back, "All's fair in love and war!"

She narrowed her eyes at him, quickly pulling the small dagger he'd given her out of her hair and throwing it past him, embedding in the neck of a man that had just jumped out from behind a tree to try and shoot him, "There," she shouted as he looked over at the man and back at her, "Even."

"We shall see," he challenged.

They probably should NOT have been making a game out of this, out of how many soldiers they each could take down by the end of the mission. But dear god had Olympus been boring! Truly, it seemed even worse to Athena after the excitement of Asgard, it seemed quieter, more pristine, more still and she needed this, she needed this battle and motion and adrenaline after that. The stress alone of worrying what her family would think of Thor and how they would react had been enough to have her nearly pulling her hair out.

"You would do well not to cheat again, Thor," she warned, moving past him to collect her dagger, seeing just the briefest lull in the enemies around them, "It shall not look well for you if my family found out you 'cheat on me,'" she used a modern, human phrase.

Thor's face went extremely white at the threat before he realized she was speaking in jest, "You are an evil woman," he spoke, though his voice hardly held any negative tone to it, "You tell them that, I am as good as dead. Your father would delight in ending my existence."

Athena rolled her eyes at that, "Oh please, Thor, it was _not_ that bad. My father did grow to like you after a time."

"Aye, after he tried to flay me with lightning of his own," Thor reminded her, the man had in fact tried to strike him with his lightning at one point.

"He was testing you," she looked at him, "If you could not endure his attack, how could you protect me from any other's?"

He knew that as well and had endeavored to stand strong and tall, to not allow the pain he had clearly felt at the hard blow be shown to others. Athena had noticed, had taken care to tend to his bruises with tenderness, but it had seemed to prove himself to Zeus more that he stood against it.

"As though you need protection," he answered instead, his smile growing more gentle as he looked at her, standing there in the middle of the battle, her sword in hand, fixing the dagger back into her hair, knowing that she could surely handle herself as she had proven numerous times before, even managing to land HIM on his back a time or two.

"Nor do you," she agreed, "But we do it regardless."

He gave her a firm nod at that, sensing something else in her words, the time for talk was finished, they had a mission to see to, a battle to win, and their lull, the few sacred moments they had been able to share had to end till they were finished. They needed to focus now, back to the matter at hand, getting Loki's scepter.

"Aye," he tightened his hold on Mjolnir, his attention back on the battle, picking up the hammer to point in one direction where they could see their allies fighting a short distance away.

They shared a nod and headed off to assist.

"Shit!" came the distinct voice of Tony Stark, Ironman, in their ears, the small earpieces that they had been issued by Captain America before they touched down.

Before they could even ask what had happened, for Ironman was out of sight of them, Captain America had already responded with, of all things, a chastising, "Language!"

Thor and Athena looked at each other for that, it was a good thing Steve Rogers had not been counted among those in training in Asgard, the language used by the Warriors Three and even Sif when the heat of battle got to them or they were just a little more drunk than normal would undoubtedly make the man keel over if such a simple explicative had him scolding like an irate father.

"Jarvis," Captain America continued, "What's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield," a robotic voice stated as Thor and Athena reached the newest fray, nearby Black Widow and Hawkeye, "Strucker's technology is well beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken."

Thor nodded to himself, glancing at Athena for confirmation of his thoughts, "Loki's scepter must be here."

"A defense like this could be for nothing else," Athena agreed, no one would amount such a defensive attack unless the thing inside was worth it.

"At long last," Thor agreed, it was high time to take the scepter to its rightful home.

"At long last is lasting a little long!" Black Widow's voice both echoed in their earpieces and in their ears, the woman just ahead of them, managing to take out another soldier.

"Yeah," they could see Hawkeye ducking behind a tree as a soldier shot at him, "I think we lost the element of surprise."

"Wait a second," Ironman cut in, "No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language?'"

Captain America sighed, "I know," he muttered, grunting before the sound of something metal striking something large and equally metal reached them, "It just slipped out."

"How you choose to keep yourself focused in the heat of battle is your own," Athena shrugged, kicking a soldier back, "I once knew a warrior that muttered the heroic hymns of past warriors under their breath as they fought to keep strong."

"Yeah, it's NOT like that," Captain America defended, though Thor had turned to her with a frown, "What warrior was that?!"

It was a rather intimate detail to know about someone, you would have had to either be very close to hear it or had enough trust from the person for them to tell it.

Athena glanced at him over her shoulder, seeing him holding a soldier in a headlock, his gaze fixed on her instead of the man soundly trying to escape his hold, and smirked, "Sif," she told him with mirth in her eyes at how his face had been so set in hardness, jealousy written all over it. He clearly thought she had known such a detail about a man instead.

Truly, it had been something Sif had told her on the eve of her first battle with the Asgardians. She had been…not quite nervous, but more excited, on edge and ready to actually FIGHT once more. The Trojan War had been SO long ago and she hadn't had a decent battle since. Sif had mistaken her pre-battle mannerisms as nerves and tried to offer her support and understanding. She had explained that, in the middle of battle it would be chaos, it would be hard to keep focused and keep strong in the face of the enemy. What had helped her, when she went through her first few battles, was to remind herself why she was doing it, to think of the warriors of the past, the great heroes whose names would never be forgotten as they had fought on and were remembered with honor for their valiant efforts. She would recite the age old rhymes of their daring deeds and deep strength to keep her own up.

She hadn't had the heart to tell Sif she'd already been in battle, in war, that she was eager for it instead of nervous about it. So she had accepted the advice with honest thanks, touched that the woman would disclose something like that to her.

"Ah," Thor nodded, as though he too knew of Sif's habit, which made her narrow her eyes in suspicion. It wasn't the most common thing to do in battle, she had often wondered if Sif had gotten the notion from someone else…and now she was quite sure she had, from Thor.

Athena raised both eyebrows as she nodded, amused at his relieved expression, and gestured at the man still in Thor's hold. That seemed to snap him out of it for he quickly knocked the man out with one blow of his fist, continuing the battle on.

"Finally!" Black Widow called, pulling their attention over as she took just one moment to look at the sky where a legion of Iron robots were flying above them, heading for the town the HYDRA base was on edge of.

Thor and Athena shared a look at that, knowing what it meant. Ironman had managed to gain access to the base, the battle was about to get more intense now that the building had been infiltrated and the robots were to help protect the people from the escalation.

Athena gasped as she was suddenly shoved to the ground, feeling an intense breeze fly past her, an odd blur of grey leading it into the woods. She winced, trying to get up, realizing that she had fallen on a rock just by her leg and cut it.

"Athena!" Thor cried.

But she shook her head at him, telling him she was fine, or would be fine, but to keep a wary eye open, there was something else going on now. He gave a nod in response, stepping closer to her, his grip on Mjolnir tight, guarding her as she quickly ripped a part of her under tunic and tied it around the cut on her leg, looking up only when they heard Hawkeye cry out in pain.

"Clint!" Black Widow took off towards where Hawkeye was now lying on the ground.

"What happened?" Thor demanded as he and Athena joined her, guarding her back as she made her way to his side.

"We have an Enhanced in the field!" Captain America warned

"Enhanced?" Athena frowned at the term, before guessing that was code for the human experiments that they were there to see about as well.

"Clint's hit!" Black Widow reported, not answering Athena as she focused on the wounded man, pressing her hand to his wound to help staunch the blood flow, Athena moving in front of her with her small shield to protect them from the bullets flying at them, "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" she demanded, looking up at Thor and Athena after glancing at a small secure spot where they were being fired at…only for the Hulk to go stomping through the woods in the distance towards it, "Thank you!"

"Stark!" Captain America shouted, "We're really need to get inside."

"I'm closing in," Ironman responded.

"We must stop the blood," Athena moved to kneel beside the Black Widow now that the firing had ceased.

"I know," Black Widow muttered, ripping Hawkeye's belt off as well as a piece of his uniform to wrap it around the wound and hold it in place.

"Victory is close at hand!" Thor shouted when an explosion went off behind them, a rippling visible in the air around the base, the force field that had been protecting it taken down.

"Drawbridge is down, people," Ironman confirmed.

"What of the Enhanced?" Athena stood, holding a finger to the earpiece, wanting to know what was left of their enemies before attempting to move Hawkeye. If there were still some around, especially the Enhanced, they needed to know what to expect and how to deal with it.

"He's a blur," Captain America answered, closer than before, actually only a few feet away, having rushed over when he heard the call about Hawkeye, "All the new player's we've faced, I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't."

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys," Black Widow told him, "We're gonna need evac."

"I can get Barton to the jet," Thor offered, "The sooner we're gone the better. You and Stark secure the scepter."

"Copy that," Captain America nodded.

"As did they," Athena nodded behind the two men, who turned to see a mass of HYDRA soldiers approaching with a tank.

"It looks like they're lining up," Thor started to grin, moving Mjolnir in a small circle.

"Well, they're excited," Captain America gave him a look, holding up his shield just slightly so Thor would get the silent idea.

Thor nodded and turned, suddenly slamming Mjolnir on the shield, bouncing the electricity it generated off the metal plate and towards the soldiers and tank, destroying it and knocking the soldiers away.

"Find the scepter," Thor ordered Captain America as he reached down to haul Hawkeye over his shoulder, lifting his hammer to fly the man away and to safety, trusting that Athena would be able to handle the last stragglers of the battle.

"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Ironman HAD to add.

"That's not going away anytime soon," Captain America sighed, resigned, before turning to the two women, "What's our status?"

Athena, who had moved to look out at the area around them when Thor took off, turned back, "It appears that was the last of them," she offered, "We are secure on this end."

"Right," he turned to Black Widow, "Go get to Banner, time for a lullaby."

"I shall assist," Athena offered, having been informed that this 'lullaby' encompassed Black Widow tracking down Hulk and calming him down enough to turn back into Bruce Banner. She could still remember the fear she had seen in Natasha the last time the Hulk had been let loose when Loki attacked the flying base, she didn't want to leave the woman to face that alone.

"No," Black Widow surprised her by shaking her head, "I got this."

Athena looked at Captain America for confirmation that she should stand down as Black Widow took off to find the Hulk.

"She does," he agreed, glancing around once more to be sure they were done out there, "Looks like it's just you and me. What's say we finish this?"

She smiled at that, "At long last," she mimicked Thor's words, making Captain America let out a chuckle before the two of the turned and began to run towards the base.

Just as Ironman had said, the field was down, the doors to the base easier to deal with and kick down, especially when the kicks were the combined effort of an Enhanced and a Goddess. It took no time at all to find the man they were looking for, the one in charge of this entire operation, for no decent captain went down without his ship.

"Baron Strucker," Captain America called as they reached the top of a set of stairs to see the man trying to escape, "HYDRA's number one thug."

"Technically, I'm a thug for SHIELD," the man smirked, digging in the knife that HYDRA had been able to infiltrate SHIELD so easily as to get not just the scepter but other valuable information and SHIELD hadn't known till it was too late.

"Well then technically you're unemployed," Captain America shot back.

"Where's Loki's scepter?" Athena demanded, not wanting to waste more time, the longer it was held in the hands of HYDRA the worse it was.

The man snorted, holding up his hands in surrender, surprising them, "Don't worry, I know when I'm beat. You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope?"

"I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation," Captain America mocked, his gaze flitting to Athena as he felt her stiffen beside him, "How many are ther…" he was suddenly cut off when Athena half tackled him down, avoiding a wave of what seemed like red energy that sailed right over his head, aimed at where he'd been standing, set to take him down in what would have been a painful blow. Clearly she had heard someone coming up behind them.

They looked back to see a pale girl with long dark hair, dressed in a black, turning and fleeing, having snuck up behind them, "I take it that blur was not the only Enhanced," Athena muttered, standing and reaching out a hand to haul Captain America up as well.

He nodded, tapping his earpiece to warn the others, "We have a second Enhanced. Female. Do not engage," he turned back to Stucker, seeing Athena, out of the corner of his eye, keeping her attention fixed behind him, guarding his back from any more sneak attacks.

"You'll have to be faster than..." Stucker began, but Captain America just slammed his shield against the man's face, knocking him out.

"Guys, Athena and I have got Strucker," he reported.

"Yeah," Ironman responded, "I got...something bigger. I got eyes on the prize."

"You have the scepter?" Athena called.

But Ironman was silent.

"Confirm," Captain America tried to order, "Tony, confirm. Do you have the scepter?"

"Yeah," Ironman was back, though he sounded a little shaken, "Yeah, I got it. Let's head out boys and girls."

~8~

It was with equal parts relief and heaviness that the Avengers found themselves on the jet back to Stark Towers after their mission was completed. It was with relief that the mission was accomplished and successful, relief that the scepter had been recovered, and that HYDRA had been dealt a blow. But heaviness in that one of their own had been injured quite badly and that the two Enhanceds had escaped.

"It is not our battle," Athena was speaking quietly to Thor as he brought up his considerations that they might need to stay on Earth longer, to see to it that the Enhanceds were dealt with.

"It may well be," Thor argued, "The scepter was in HYDRA's possession during their time experimenting. It may be the cause of the power the Enhanceds have."

"No," she shook her head, "Even if it was used, I doubt it created the power. It may have unlocked it, shown them the 'truth' of themselves," she recalled how Loki kept spouting that when he had been in possession of the scepter, that it showed someone 'the truth' before it controlled them, "But it was theirs already. This is a human task, let the Enhanced deal with other Enhanceds," she glanced at Steve and back, "We have a mission and duty to Asgard to return the scepter so that it cannot be used as it was again."

"Athena," he sighed.

"We have been away too long," she insisted.

"Thor," Natasha called out, interrupting whatever he might have said about that, "Report on the Hulk?"

"The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims," he smirked, turning to the duo that had been quietly sitting and talking off to the side, Natasha glaring at him as Bruce hung his head with a groan. Athena nearly rolled her eyes and elbowed him in the gut for his words, they both knew how much Bruce regretted what he was and what he did when he was the Hulk, hearing he had injured and killed people would not be helpful or welcome, "Uh," he tried to backpedal, "But, not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, uh...wounded screams, mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and, and uh...and gout."

Athena sighed, "Those attacked by the Hulk today were enemies," she reminded the man, "No civilians were harmed by the Hulk, and many more of us would be injured more gravely had he not been there to assist."

Bruce looked up at her for that, giving her a smile that told her he thanked her for the effort, but he wasn't relieved or happy he'd hurt even their enemies either.

"Hey Banner," Tony interrupted, glancing at the man over his shoulder from where he was piloting, "Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul, is it ok if she sets up in your lab?"

"Uh, yeah, she knows her way around," Bruce mumbled.

"Thanks," he tapped a few buttons, "Tell her to prep everything, Barton's gonna need the full treatment."

"Very good sir," Jarvis answered.

"Jarvis, take the wheel."

"Yes, sir. Approach vector is locked."

Tony spun around in his chair, the jet now on autopilot, before getting up to move over to where Thor and Athena were, the two of them looking at the scepter as it was held in Athena's hand, the woman inspecting it for any damage to it, "It feels good, yeah?" he asked them, "I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but..."

"No, but this...this brings it to a close," Thor nodded.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for," Steve reminded them, "I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?"

Thor gave Athena a pointed, almost smug, look at that.

"Banner and I'll give it the once before it goes back to Asgard," Tony offered, glancing at the gods, "Is that cool with you two?" Thor nodded though Athena didn't seem pleased, "I mean, just a few days, until the farewell party. You're staying right?"

"We shouldn't," Athena shook her head, "We should return the scepter with haste," she looked at Thor, "The last time we left it on earth, it fell into the hands of HYDRA," she reminded him, "We _cannot_ risk that again."

"It won't," Tony promised, "It'll be in Stark Towers, I won't leave it for a second, I'll even make it so no one else can enter the building."

"We have looked long for it, fought hard to retrieve it, endured many an injury," Thor looked at Athena, "A victory should be honored with revels. And proper revels take preparation."

Athena sighed, shaking her head but turning to set the scepter down, knowing that she wouldn't be able to talk him out of this, he would see this as a thank you to the Avengers for their help, an apology to Barton for his injury as well, there would be no persuading him from that, "Three days," she offered, no more no less, "And Thor and I stay with the scepter at the Tower."

"Done," Tony grinned, "Speaking of farewell parties and revels," he looked at the others, "Who doesn't love revels. Captain?"

Steve seemed to actually be considering it, "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra, so…" he nodded, "Yes, revels."

Athena couldn't help but wonder, and hope, that they hadn't made a mistake in allow this.

But truly, what harm could Tony Stark do in three days?

A/N: Oh Athena, better question would be what harm could he do in ONE day lol :) I hope you liked the first chapter :) I'm not 100 percent sure when I'll get the prequel I have planned up, where we see what Thor and Athena's time in Olympus was like, but I do plan to post it ;)

As for this story, I think 'Truth' works as Athena is known for being a patron goddess of Truth also, and I feel like a lot of truths were revealed in this movie between the Avengers and their fears, the Twins and discovering Ultron's agenda, Hawkeye and his secret farm, and others things :)

I'm really sorry this took so long to get posted. Normally I try to get a continuing series up about two weeks after the movie airs (to give me time to write a transcript for it, which will be up on my tumblr when this story is complete), but a lot happened in 2015 that really got in the way of my posting. My dad was diagnosed with cancer, my dog died, my sister moved out, my dad got a pneumonia, I got a job then quit it then got another job, I started a candle business (it's on Etsy too), and started a Master's program in English/Creative Writing, and am tutoring my sister's boyfriend in undergraduate classes so it's been insane. But I'm back now and I hope you all will enjoy what's coming for this story :)

Some notes on reviews...(from the end of Strategy)...

We will definitely see a prequel of Thor meeting Athena's family yup ;)

Yup, the series follows the movies Thor is a part of, so Age of Ultron and then later Thor 3 :)

I do plan to do a crossover where Athena and Kona meet, possibly even adding in Steve and Bucky's OCs too ;) And I'm definitely planning to post a Thor meeting the family prequel too ;)

I'm not sure if I'd do a Charles/OC or Erik/OC just yet, an OC hasn't hit me so far, but you never know, I might watch the movies again in the future and be hit with one ;)

I'm glad you're enjoying the series :) I don't have any immediate plans for a one-shot series for Thor and Athena though, mostly because then I'd feel the need to do the same for all the other movie-stories too and it would get crazy lol :)

I do have plans for a Bucky/OC yup ;)

Lol, yup, Zeus will meet Thor }:)

I probably won't do an entire series of Thor and Athena on Olympus, but we'll definitely get a few chapters worth of a prequel for it ;) I might hold off on trying the Agents of SHIELD with Sif in it for the moment though, I'm planning a Steve/OC and Bucky/OC and I can say one of them might end up working for SHIELD and feature into the show as a spin-off so we might see Sif there. I'm not 100 percent sure about it though just yet ;)

Oh Loki won't be acting like that with his mother nope, we'll have to wait and see in the next Loki story how long Frigga will know it's her son and not her husband for }:) She will definitely know it's not Odin pretty quickly, but as for why she said nothing, that'll have to wait ;)

I probably won't do a spinoff for this series, but we will get an original little prequel of Thor meeting Athena's family ;)

This story doesn't pick up on Olympus no, but I've got a prequel planned where we get to see Thor's time there ;)

It isn't specified in this actual chapter, but it will be in the next one, that Athena's hair has gone back to blonde yup :)


	2. To Be a Goddess

To Be a Goddess

"Oomph," Natasha let out a deep groan as her body was slammed down onto the matted floor of one of Tony's training rooms in Stark Tower, "Damn," she muttered to herself as she took a moment to just lay there and gain back her lost breath.

It wasn't often that she was subjected to her own signature move and left to feel the brunt of what she inflicted on others.

Athena grinned down at her as she stood over her, "That is a truly useful maneuver," she remarked, not seeming concerned that her opponent had yet to rise, "My thanks for teaching me it."

"No problem," Natasha waved her off, moving her legs so she could bend her knees, her feet resting flat on the ground with her knees up, draping her hands over her stomach, at ease, just laying there for the moment, "You picked it up pretty quick."

"I was born a warrior," Athena shrugged, letting out a long sigh that was more an exhale of breath than a sign something was wrong as she turned her body, sitting down beside Natasha, almost mirroring the woman's position while sitting. Her knees were bent, feet flat on the ground, but she had her arms draped over her knees instead.

"So was I," Natasha stated.

"Not in the same way, I'm afraid," Athena gave her a small smile at that, knowing Natasha didn't often speak of her past and wasn't about to pry. She knew enough from being around the Avengers and the parts she could gleam off of certain comments to know that Natasha had been raised to be an assassin, had been trained her entire life for it, but it wasn't the same thing as with her, with how SHE had been born a warrior.

"Oh, yeah," Natasha nodded, thinking about that, "You've got that whole crazy stuck in a head till an axe-wielding maniac let you out thing going on."

Athena nearly snorted at hearing it described like that. Her birth was unique among humans, not quite so among her family when it was considered how some of her siblings and relatives were born. But it was unique enough where even the humans seemed to know about it. Despite what she may or may not have said regarding who she truly was the last time she had been around the Avengers, they had all seemed to come to the understanding that, if Thor was THE god of thunder from Norse legend, then surely SHE had to be THE goddess of wisdom from the Greek and even Roman tales, so they all knew at least a little about her past in that sense, even her birth.

Her father, Zeus, had been married to her mother, Metis, and heard a prophecy that any son born of Metis would overthrow his father. Rather than risk his wife, whom he'd just learned was pregnant, giving birth to a son, he'd taken a leaf out of his own father's book…and eaten her in one large swallow. Being immortal, she couldn't exactly die. Time went on until her father began to complain of intense headaches, migraines so bad that Hephaestus, the smith god, had decided that perhaps the only way to relieve the pain was to crack open Zeus's head and see what was bothering him.

Not quite the smartest thing to do, but it had ended up being just what Zeus had need, for out of his cracked skull, she had sprung, full grown and completely dressed in her armor, ready for war. She literally had been born a warrior.

"I have never heard it quite described like that before," Athena gave a small laugh, "Most seem to recite it with more reverence and awe."

"Well most haven't seen Cap without his shirt," Natasha spoke, with such a serious expression that it almost made Athena believe that the woman considered it more reverent and awed an experience to see Steve Rogers without his shirt on than it was to see a goddess being born…till Natasha's face cracked into a smirk revealing her joke.

"I am glad," Athena told her, "That you don't treat me with reverence or awe," she admitted, looking away from Natasha and around the training room, "I have had enough of that to last more lifetimes than I will ever live."

Natasha eyed the woman carefully for that, just as it was a touchy subject to talk about her own past, she knew it was equally so for Athena to speak of hers too.

"Well you'll never have to worry about that from me," Natasha promised, "And if you ever feel your head getting big, come find me. I've still got plenty more tricks up my sleeve that'll have you flat on your back before you can blink."

Athena smiled at that, "I will keep that in mind."

That was something she struggled with, it was why she was often so hard on Thor about his own arrogance. She had lived it, she had seen not just her family but herself become unbearably cruel and greedy in the praise and worship that the humans had given them. She had fallen into it, had craved it, had become someone she could hardly recognize when she looked back at it.

And she never wanted to be that person again.

The choice her family had made to cut themselves off from the humans was both the most difficult and most rewarding decision they had ever made.

It still wasn't enough though.

Because the stories existed, on earth, the 'myths' as the humans called them, about her family and her. She doubted they would ever disappear, they had lasted so long already and people seemed fond of teaching them, using them as cautionary lessons. She would never be rid of the stigma and reminders of her past, each time she came to Earth. It had taken everything inside of her not to react when Erik Selvig and the others had remarked about her being THE Athena. She didn't want to be THAT Athena, never ever again.

It was why she had kept her hair blonde despite it being brown naturally. Being blonde instead of brunette might seem like such a small, unimportant thing to anyone else, but to her it represented a new start, being in Asgard, with Thor, it was her opportunity to separate herself from that era of her life. It might sound cruel, but getting away from her family and the constant stillness of Olympus, all of it reminding her of why they were there in the first place, she had to do it. She had needed to get away from the reminders of her past, to have even a hope of healing.

She had been arrogant and cruel, she had been a monster near the end, before they had cut themselves off from temptation. Once she had managed to gain back enough of her senses, of herself, of who she used to be before all of that, she realized it was for the best, and she endeavored to be better than before. She wanted to change, she HAD to change, because she hated who she had been.

She was the Goddess of Wisdom, as the humans called her, but she had been so unbelievably foolish. She hadn't been wise at all, but she strove to be now.

She fought against her arrogance every day, fought even more when she was actually ON Earth, around those that knew who she was or suspected it. No one, not even Thor, knew how difficult it was for her to be on this planet, surrounded by the species that had once worshiped her, dedicated their lives to her, sacrificed to her…

She shook her head fiercely at that, pushing the thoughts away, focusing instead on Natasha, on how the woman treated her, like a person, like another woman, like a human and not like a goddess. She needed to remember that, remember why she had left the humans, what they and their attention could do to her.

She supposed it was like those with an addiction, when they finally broke free of its hold. It was always tempting to go back to it, it was always there, lurking in your subconscious, just how EASY it would be to start back up. And it would be, far too easy that is, to arrive on Earth and establish herself as a goddess once more. Thor hadn't been wrong when they'd come to Earth for Loki, humans were puny and tiny and small, even the Avengers had no idea just how powerful she or Thor could be if they actually used their full strength and power and might. They could easily rule the world if they wanted to.

She didn't doubt Loki could have as well, had he been in his right mind and not suffering the aftereffects of torture by the Chitauri, had he been at full strength he could have taken over Earth easily.

Athena took a deep breath at that, her thoughts trailing into dangerous territory. She failed, sometimes, to keep her arrogance at bay, she slipped at times, believed herself to be better than others. It had been so easy to do that around Thor when she first met him. He had been so arrogant and she had felt arrogant as a result, because she had felt that she was less arrogant than he was at that point in time. Oh the paradox of that statement. She had felt like she was more humble, when she came to Asgard, that Thor's arrogance made her feel proud of herself, for not being arrogant like he was any longer. And that had just made her treat him as though she were better, wiser, more in the right than he was, because she was humble and he wasn't. And all it did was make her act out on her own arrogance as a result.

When Thor finally began to experience humility and become humble himself, she realized what she'd done, the trap she'd fallen into.

It was tricky, to know when you were being arrogant and when you were justifiably right.

She was harder on him because of that, she knew what arrogance and pride, greed and power, could do to someone. She'd seen it tear her family apart, seen it transform her into the worst version of herself possible. She had come to Asgard for a new start, it would be impossible to heal if Asgard merely became the next Olympus, if Thor let it tear his family apart and make him into a monstrous king.

In helping him, though, she truly felt like she had helped herself heal as well. Being able to stop Thor's arrogance growing, being able to help him become more level-headed, preventing him from becoming what she had been…it felt almost like she had made the smallest of amends for the horrors she had committed, that she prevented the same occurring in Thor.

If he could be redeemed and become truly humble, then there was hope for her as well.

"You ok in there?" Natasha's voice broke through her thoughts, the woman reaching to shove her lightly on the arm, bringing her back to the present.

"Eventually," she offered the woman, Natasha nodding her head knowingly, understandingly.

The people they had been, the things they had done, whether the other knew what that was or not, it had affected them both. They weren't ok now, they might not ever be, but they could hope and they could try.

"So what about you?" Natasha brought the topic back to safe territory, "You got any moves you can show me?"

Athena started to smile at that, Natasha had taught her her signature move, a rather tricky headlock involving her thighs and twisting her back, it was only fair she taught the woman some in return, "Oh yes," she stood, holding out a hand to help Natasha up, "I have just the one. I have used it to best Thor more times than he can count, he never sees it coming."

"Speaking of Thor," Natasha couldn't help but smirk, "How are you two doing?"

"We are well," Athena nodded, "Eager to return home with the scepter," she added, casting a glance at the door to the halls. While she and Thor were staying in Stark Tower, as Tony had promised, to be closer to the scepter for added protection, they had hardly actually SEEN the scepter since they arrived. Tony had whisked it away to be tested and examined. They were able to check in from time to time, not as often as she would like, but Thor seemed to trust Stark and Banner with it.

After all, he had argued, they helped retrieve the scepter, they would not dare use it for a foul purpose like HYDRA had been.

"You sure that's the ONLY reason you're eager to return home?"

Athena frowned, confused as to why Natasha was wiggling her eyebrows, "Yes?"

"Really?" the assassin crossed her arms, raising a single eyebrow this time, "It's JUST the scepter, has nothing to do with the fact that you two would finally be ALONE together?"

While they'd been on earth, they really HADN'T had much time alone, what with hunting the scepter and sometimes splitting up to cover more ground. And while they'd been in Olympus there had always been eyes on them so not much had really felt private to them.

"We would still be surrounded by his people," Athena argued.

"Yeah, but you'd have more control over when they had to leave him alone though."

"I suppose," she considered, "When he wished to train, especially, he would be left to his own devices," no one wanted to interrupt or crowd Thor when he was training.

"Perfect," Natasha grinned.

"Sorry?" Athena frowned, deeply confused…and that was saying something when she was essentially the goddess of intelligence.

"You and Thor, you should train together when you get back," Natasha seemed to be trying to lead the conversation somewhere, "And maybe you could introduce him to the moves I showed you. You know, another way to get him on his back. And hey, men love a girl that's flexible and you'd need to be to pull of those moves. Just show him that once and he'll be begging for it."

"Begging for what?"

Natasha nearly gaped at her, seeing that Athena genuinely seemed completely lost by what she was saying, "Sex."

"What?" Athena's eyes widened, "How would training lead to…to…to…"

"Sex," Natasha repeated, blunt as ever, "Oh come on," she shook her head, "The way you two wrestle, there's no way that you haven't done the deed yet."

But Athena's expression made it very clear, from how she couldn't meet Natasha's eyes to how red her face had turned, that no, they had not actually done anything like that yet.

"Holy shit," Natasha gaped at her, "You've been together HOW long?"

"Not very," Athena defended.

"And in immortal speak, where decades are the blink of an eye, that means nothing to me," Natasha stated, "You seriously haven't…"

"No!" Athena cut in, shifting, "No, we haven't. I don't…I'm not…I never thought…"

Natasha would have laughed at the goddess before her being stunned nearly speechless had the situation not been so serious.

"Well we are going to fix that," she declared.

"What?!" Athena shook her head.

"The farewell party is tonight," Natasha reminded her, stepping forward to link her arm with Athena's and lead her towards the doors, "And we are going to get you all 'gussied up' and when Thor gets a look at you there is no way you're not getting laid tonight."

"But…but the training," Athena tried to deter, "I haven't shown you anything and…"

"And nothing," Natasha cut in, sounding far too serious, "This is way more important. And look, if it makes you feel better, I'll get all dolled up too," before adding under her breath, "That way at least ONE of us stands a chance at getting some action tonight."

~8~

Thor held a small glass of some alcoholic beverage or another, or at least what the humans felt passed as ale in this world, while he spoke with Tony, Maria Hill, and a new friend, James Rhodes at the party Tony really HAD thrown for him and Athena as a farewell to them. That floor of Stark Tower was crowded with friends and…many people Thor hadn't known either. He had glimpsed a good number of the women casting eyes at him, but that was as far as his notice of them had gone. No, his eyes were fixed in flitting around the room in search of Athena, who was mysteriously absent so far, unlike her given she was always rather punctual, but not alarming with the information he'd been provided about her whereabouts.

"Well, you know, the suit can take the weight, right?" Rhodes was speaking, regaling them with a tale or two of his own adventures, "So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet, I'm like, 'Boom! You looking for this?'" the man grinned widely at Tony and Thor, expecting a laugh, but they just stared at him blankly, for two very different reasons. Nothing really surprised Tony any longer, he knew exactly what the Ironman suits and the other offspring of it could do, and Thor…well, he hadn't actually been paying attention for the most part, "'Boom! Are you looking...'" he tried to repeat, thinking they'd just missed the punchline, but still, nothing, "Why do I even talk to you guys? Everywhere else that story kills."

"That's the whole story?" Thor frowned, not sure he'd even heard a part of it, it was short. He was used to epic poems and sagas about the deeds of heroes, not minuscule lines about a heroic deed.

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story."

Thor offered a smile, "Well, it's very good then," he laughed in apology, "It's…impressive."

Rhodes just shot him a deadpanned look, "Quality save," before turning to Tony, "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?"

"No," Tony shook his head.

"Speaking of women," Hill took a sip of her drink, "Where's Athena? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?"

"Well, Ms. Potts has a company to run," Tony shrugged, "And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting."

"And Athena should be here soon," Thor nodded, setting his drink aside, "Last I was informed, Natasha had stolen her away to prepare for the revels this night."

Tony nearly choked on his drink, "Agent Natasha Romanoff, code name: Black Widow, is getting her ready for tonight?"

Thor frowned at Tony's reaction, "Is that a bad thing?" if she was in danger…

Tony just smirked, if Natasha treated this like a mission then it would be quite the opposite, "Oh, for YOU, it's going to be a very, very good thing," he patted Thor on the back, "You lucky son of a gun."

Thor just seemed more confused, "I don't understand…"

"Let's put it this way," Tony tried to hint without giving away the surprise he was sure was coming if he knew anything about Natasha, "Athena, she's from over the rainbow, like you, a goddess right?"

"Yes."

"Well, tonight…she's gonna look it."

That went right over Thor's head as he shook it, "But Athena IS a goddess, how would she look one tonight if that is how she always looks?"

"I'd guess, like that," Hill smirked, nodding her head to the side, drawing the attention of the three men over to where Thor could now see Athena making her way over.

Tony took extreme delight in reaching out a finger to push Thor's jaw up, shutting the man's mouth that had fallen open.

Athena, to anyone else, radiated confidence as she strode through the crowd, her eyes locked on Thor as she approached but Thor could see the telltale signs of nerves in her as she moved, could tell she was forcing the confidence to not let on any weaknesses. She was clearly not quite as comfortable as she would like in her attire…though he was quite certain that he had never seen her looking so lovely, whatever Natasha had done…it truly worked, she was every bit the goddess she was called.

Athena was wearing a tight red dress, reminiscent of some of the clothing he had seen on Olympus, as it appeared to be more a draped dress, almost toga-ish in appearance. But it was fitted as well, hugging her body and every curve she had. There were no sleeves, exposing her shoulders and arms and, while the skirt of the dress went to the floor, obstructing his view of her legs, there was a very dangerous slit up the side of it, giving him just a peek of them, a very, very tempting peek. Her hair was up in a loose version of a twist, from what he could make out, which only served to have him on the verge of letting out a pained groan at the sight of her neck looking even longer than normal. His eyes, now fixated on her neck, had noticed she was still wearing her drachma necklace, her way of contacting her family, though the coin hung so low that it disappeared into the edge of her neckline…which forced his eyes to jump right up to her face at how low they had gone.

"Gentlemen," Athena greeted as she made it to them, "Maria," and smiled at the last man, "Thor."

Thor seemed at a loss of words for a moment, shaking his head as he stared at her, before finally finding his tongue, "Athena…you are more exquisite than the finest blade Hephaestus has ever crafted."

Even as Athena beamed at that, finally seeming to relax in her clothing, the other men and Maria gave Thor an odd look for the…compliment? Was it even one?

"Really?" Tony remarked dryly, " _That's_ the best you could do? Nothing about how her eyes 'sparkle like stars' or how her hair is 'as golden as the sun?' You call her a sword?"

"Aye," Thor nodded, his eyes still fixed on Athena, "They are beautiful and deadly."

The trio just looked at each other, shaking their heads that it had to be a god-thing before Hill and Rhodes began to walk away, seeing that there would be no conversation to follow with either Athena or Thor, not with how they were making moon eyes at each other.

Tony just patted Thor on the back again, "Have fun you two crazy kids," he called, pointing at them in warning as he started to walk backwards, "Don't do anything I would do!"

Neither of them seemed to hear him as Thor reached out to take her hand in one of his, "Finally," he muttered, "They have left," he smirked, "Now I can give you my truest compliment and earn a favor from you."

Athena lifted an eyebrow, "And what compliment could you give that would earn you a kiss?" she teased him, even his first compliment had earned him that.

"You are a vision, Athena," he told her, "More lovely and beautiful, more tempting," he squeezed her hand at that, stepping closer to rest his other hand on her waist, "Than any goddess of love or beauty in all the realms and beyond. YOU are the fairest of them all."

Athena felt her breath leave her at that, at seeing the honest truth in his eyes, to him she was the most beautiful in the world. That had been something that weighed on her for centuries, the Trojan War, the hand she had played in sparking it. As much as she had enjoyed the battle, she now regretted causing such devastation, and Thor knew it…and here he was, trying to give her better memories and associations of things than she had.

To The Fairest.

Those were the words that had been written on the golden apple Eris, the Goddess of Discord, had thrown into the middle of her, Aphrodite, and her step-mother, Hera. It had set the three of the against each other, each claiming THEY were the fairest, till a simple shepherd from earth had been brought in to select as an impartial judge. And even then they had bribed him, till Aphrodite won and the Trojan War was on the rise.

To hear Thor say those words, to MEAN them, without any bribes in question, it made her heart race.

"That would do it," she murmured in warning before she pulled his face towards her own with a gentle hand on his neck and kissed him deeply for it.

Thor tugged her closer, moving his hands around to her back…when he nearly jerked away, looking at her with wide eyes, his hands frozen.

Athena just smirked at his reaction, stepping away out of his hold and turning to walk across the room to 'mingle' with the other Avengers…giving him full view of how there was a rather wide expanse of her back not covered by cloth. It had startled him, to feel her skin beneath his hands, and now, seeing the look in her eyes, the smirk on her face, he knew that she was aware of his reaction. She was going to be tempting and taunting him with that flash of skin all night.

And, he noticed now, not just him, as he saw the eyes of other men linger on her, scan over her. He quickly reached out to the small bar beside him, taking a small glass that had been filled with liquor and downing it in one gulp as he watched the men. He felt his jaw clench when he saw one approach her, the glass he had been holding in it shattering as his grip tightened despite how Athena seemed to politely decline whatever the man had said.

This was going to be a LONG night.

~8~

Athena couldn't help but let out a soft laugh as she reached Natasha, the assassin smirking widely, very smug, as she saw the goddess approaching her, "Did it work?" she asked immediately, the moment Athena was close enough to hear her, for them to speak without anyone hearing.

"Aye," Athena nodded, "I was not certain it would garner such a reaction from Thor," she admitted.

She HAD doubted Natasha when she claimed that Thor would be rendered speechless and completely fixated on her just from the gown she had selected. It was kind of Natasha to choose a gown for her that was similar enough to the style she was used to at her home, it made her feel less uncomfortable but not by much. She had left her home for a reason, she was more comfortable now in Asgardian clothing, but it seemed Natasha hadn't understood her when she tried to describe just what that was like and had decided 'toga it was.'

"Why wouldn't it?" Natasha smiled, "He's a man."

"And he has seen me in far less," Athena reminded her, "My armor covers less of me than this gown does."

And it was true. Her legs were exposed, her arms exposed, and during training sessions, in the warmer months, there was no modesty among the warriors. Well, there was more when it came to she and Sif, they would NOT expose that much of themselves, though they had been tempted a time or two when they noticed that their opponents seemed to get much more distracted the less clothing they were wearing, but they did not actually take that risk.

Thor had seen much of her already, he had even seen her in garb similar to this on Olympus, so why he had such a reaction NOW she had no idea.

"Yeah, but that's armor, that's meant to keep people out," Natasha shrugged, "It's meant to protect you. THIS," she tugged lightly on the skirt of Athena's dress, "This is an invitation in. This isn't saying 'keep back' to Thor like your armor does. THIS is saying, 'gee wouldn't I look better on the floor?'"

"Natasha!" Athena exclaimed, looking around to make sure no one had heard that, feeling herself blushing as red as the dress was.

"What?" Natasha joked, "Oh, sweetie, we are going to have to work that. Sex is a normal process of life and…"

"Yes, thank you," Athena cut in, shifting, though it seemed to amuse Natasha more than anything, "I know what it is. And I've heard worse, more raunchy tales that would make even YOU blush, from the soldiers in Asgard, I just…I do not think this is the time or place to speak of it."

"Fine, fine," Natasha waved it off, "But still," she smirked again, "Thor…he DID react right?"

Athena couldn't help but smile at that, "He did. He called me the fairest of them all."

"Like Snow White?" Natasha gave her an odd look, not sure why she was so happy about that phrase

"Who?" Athena blinked out of her thoughts.

"Never mind," Natasha shook her head, it had to be an Asgardian-Olympian thing then, "So he liked it."

"Yes."

"And you liked how he liked it."

"Yes," Athena sighed, hating to admit that part, she had tried to stop Natasha dressing her up, not thinking the attention and the hope the woman had for her and Thor and how their night would go to be proper.

"Then WHY are you over here talking to me?" Natasha tried to nudge her back to Thor, "Go seduce your god!"

"I am," she informed her, nodding to the side when Natasha gave her a questioning look.

The assassin glanced around to see that quite a few men had certainly noticed Athena too and were watching her closely…which seemed to be irritating and angering Thor to no end as he stood across the room, liquor dripping from his clenched hand where he'd broken his glass. She looked at Athena, impressed that the woman had thought to tease Thor like that, she knew as well as anyone what jealousy and temptation could make a man do, something she often used on missions to get attention when she wanted it.

She reached out and linked arms with Athena, "I've taught you well."

A/N: I hope you liked the Natasha-Athena moment in the beginning :) I feel like, now that their mission is over and they have time, Nat and Athena would very much want to spar each other and maybe learn a trick or two from each other, sort of bond a little as the only two 'active' women in the Avengers. Hill is awesome in her own right, but she tends to stay more with Fury than get involved in the Avengers doing their thing ;) I could totally see Natasha teasing Athena in her own way about how far she's gone with Thor, she seems like one of the few that wouldn't care that Athena could 'smite her' so to speak as a goddess and see her as just a woman :)

I also feel like Athena would be very flustered at the mention of sex in such a blunt way. Given she's never felt the need or inclination or attraction to other men the way she does Thor, she hasn't thought much on that aspect of it. And Natasha just sort of forced her to confront that so she wasn't expecting it and has no idea how to deal with it lol :)

Small side note, lol, I just realized as I was updating my profile that even with my slower updates for TV-stories, I may just crack 100 stories written this year! :D

Some notes on reviews...

I was so tempted to have Tony tease them, but in the heat of battle and with the two of them THAT into it, I think even he realized that was like having a death wish lol :) So I decided to incorporate that temptation here, like without Piper around he feels the need to remark on other people's relationships more too :) And Thor's reaction to Athena's modern/dressy clothing, I couldn't see him not saying something about it lol :) And thank you! I hope you had a Happy Valentine's Day too :)

Oh Athena is going to be very angry at herself and Tony for not taking more precautions about all this ;) And I can say that the Steve/OC will have their own version of Age of Ultron too yup ;)

I can say there won't be much blatant Natasha/Bruce here, it will be there in the sense that it happens in the background because of the movie. But the story will focus on Thor and Athena and if they aren't near Natasha or Bruce or noticing them being together, then it won't be written ;) So we might get hints of them being together, but nothing as clear as in the movie ;)


	3. Worthy

Worthy

The night had finally died down, a majority of Tony's guests having left, with only the Avengers, Hill, Rhodes, and an Asian woman Thor and Athena had been introduced to as Dr. Cho, remaining. Despite the more familiar atmosphere and amicable chatter, Cho seemed to be more reserved and quiet, content to just sit and observe than speak.

Athena caught Natasha's eye as she sipped the water in her glass, smirking behind it, much like Natasha seemed to be doing as well. Thor had lasted an impressive hour of watching her and Natasha speak to other men before he had been unable to restrain himself any longer. It truly was an impressive feat for him to hold himself back that long and Athena was quite sure he might have been able to last a little longer had it not been for a particular incident

The only thing that had gotten him reacting was when a man had come to speak to her and Natasha, his hand amicably moving to rest on her back by way of not startling her when he appeared beside her, moving to continue walking and stand nearer to Natasha. It had been a platonic gesture, no nefarious undertones behind the touch, merely a passing brush truly…but Thor had been done in by it. No one but him was to touch her bare skin like that, not on her back, not in such an intimate (in his eyes) gesture. He had immediately joined them as they spoke to the charming young man…and proceeded to intimidate the poor fellow with a forced smile, his stance wide and imposing, his closeness to Athena's side and how his own hand had moved to rest on the patch of skin on her back and remain there telling all the men watching that they had best not approach her for the rest of the night.

That poor man that had been talking to them had quickly excused himself…right over to another man that quickly made it obvious was his own partner and love.

Thor had almost seemed regretful that he'd intimidated the man that truly wasn't a threat to his relationship with Athena, not that any mere mortal could be, but it was quickly cut off when Athena merely leaned into his touch, rested against his frame, which had made him smile warmly…something Natasha had noticed.

Natasha couldn't help but wiggle her eyebrows at Athena suggestively in return, oh the 'virgin' goddess was SO getting some tonight, she was sure of it. She really HAD to be given how she and Thor were placed on a small loveseat across from her. Thor had his arm around the back of the seat, though it was resting more on Athena than the couch, his body was half turned towards her, telling her that even if he was conversing with the other men at the moment, at least half (probably more) of his attention was fixated and aware of Athena beside him. With how large a man Thor was, the loveseat seemed even smaller, forcing Athena to be sitting closer to him than ever. If she moved just a little more she was almost positive that Athena would be sitting in his lap…and wouldn't that be a something to pay to see.

Athena herself wasn't much better, she actually had her left hand resting on Thor's knee, though whenever she moved to wiggle in her seat or switch hands with her glass, she ended up brushing closer to Thor's thigh. She was also seeming very content to be curled up a little closer to the man, leaning against him as she had before. She had one leg crossed over the other, her dangling foot tapping slightly, also brushing against Thor's lower leg unconsciously.

Even an assassin like her could admit the two made a cute couple. And they made sense, in a way, the Norse god of Thunder and the Greek goddess of Wisdom. They balanced each other, made each other better and stronger. Athena grounded Thor, made him consider situations and think things through, made him less arrogant. Thor gave Athena the excitement and battle she knew a born warrior would need to not go insane. And, when you really thought about it, if the saying was true that girls looked for men that reminded them of their fathers, a god of Thunder wasn't all that far from Athena's tastes, though she was hoping that Thor was much more faithful to Athena than the stories painted Zeus to be.

She could tell he was though.

Cho had nearly been throwing herself at Thor all night, making eyes at him, trying to talk (flirt) to him, and once she'd gotten a few drinks in her even making as suggestive of comments as the sensible woman could make even intoxicated.

Thor hadn't noticed a single thing of it, he'd been so focused on Athena that night. Come to think of it, Thor had barely spoken to anyone else after that incident. Oh he had tried to distract himself, she'd noticed, she'd seen him speaking to an older man, offering him and Steve a touch of liquor from Asgard...effectively getting the old man drunk enough to need to be escorted out. She could guess why Thor had felt the need to break out the stronger liquor what with how Athena was teasing him. Still, whatever the man had drunk had done the trick eventually, liquid courage had found its way to the god of thunder and he'd finally begun to express the interest he knew he had in Athena, making it clear that she was his 'date' as he was hers.

Personally, she would have liked to see Athena use some more tempting techniques than she'd used, she'd even given the woman some ideas as the night went on, small things she could do that would really drive Thor insane, maybe even get him to call the party early and get them back to Asgard, for the scepter of course. But she knew Athena was uncomfortable enough in her dress and with the attention of other men on her, if she had tried even one of the things she'd suggested, she'd have probably have died of mortification. Geez, these gods really took their titles seriously. 'Virgin Goddess,' she could understand why Athena still was one after millennia, how a girl that seemed as modest as Athena survived around soldiers and their 'raunchy' stories this long was beyond her.

Still, Athena HAD gotten her man to crack in the end, in her own way, and that was all that mattered.

Natasha glanced over at another Avenger, one she'd found her attention drifting to more than once that night, now if only she could get a certain someone to fixate on her like that.

Still, if only one of them could see fruits from this night, she was happy for Athena, they'd become pretty good friends, or at least Athena had managed to gain more of her trust over the time they'd been searching for the scepter.

"It's a trick!" Barton shouted, pulling her out of her thoughts, seeming to do the same with Athena as both women looked over at him, finally paying attention to the conversation the men were having.

"Oh, no," Thor shook his head, gesturing at Mjolnir as it rested on the table before them, "It's much more than that."

"Uh, 'Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!'" Barton mocked, scoffing, telling the women what the men were speaking of now, trying to work out how Thor's hammer worked with the entire 'no one can lift it unless they're worth' part attached, "Whatever man! It's a trick."

Thor glanced at Athena, seeing her smiling slyly at him, seeming more at ease now that the crowds were gone, knowing that she was well aware how little a trick it was, but also knowing it would amuse the both of them to watch the men make their attempts, "Well please," he waved his arm in permission, "Be my guest."

"Come on," Tony egged him on.

"Really?" Barton hesitated, not sure if it was a trick.

"Please, do," Athena smirked, sitting further back on the loveseat, resting her glass on the table beside it, wanting to get comfortable to watch the show, "Try."

"Alright," Barton nodded, getting up.

"Oh this is gonna be beautiful," Rhodes laughed, rubbing his hands together in glee to watch, what he was sure was, Barton make a fool of himself.

"Clint, you've had a tough week," Tony added, "We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up."

The others laughed, though Athena looked away with a cough at that too, making Natasha laugh harder. What on earth that woman was going to do when the night was over and she and Thor were back in Asgard was beyond her. Clearly Thor was nearing his limits for the night, just about ready to call it a night and get them both off of Earth...and Natasha highly doubted it was JUST to return the scepter. If Athena's blushing and stuttering before was anything to go by, the woman hadn't exactly anticipated or thought much on what her relationship with Thor would one day lead to, sex. But really, if she and Thor were as close as they appeared, if they ended up hitched and Athena became Queen of Asgard, wouldn't they want heirs? It was better to introduce the idea and reality to Athena now before the pressure was on them than have her face her wedding night with even more to worry about and be nervous for. She was just trying to look out for a friend. Athena was hard to read, but she used what she knew of the girl's myths and what she gleamed off her reactions to get a better handle on her. She would need this nudge, even if nothing happened that night between the sheets, there was still something she and Thor could at least TALK about and get an understanding about.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Barton stepped up to the hammer, grabbing it with both hands to try and lift it…but it remained firmly stuck, "And I still don't know how you do it!" he added to Thor, panting in effort.

"Smell the silent judgment?" Tony joked.

Barton shot him a look, "Please, Stark, by all means," this time HE egged Tony on.

Tony just shrugged and stood, making Natasha grin, "Oh, here we go," everyone else joining in on making noises of challenge to Tony, not believing he would be able to do it either.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," Tony defended.

"Get after it," Barton urged him on, not wanting to hear talk but see action.

"Here we go," Natasha leaned forward.

"It's physics," Tony eyed the hammer.

"Physics?" Banner snorted, it was anything but.

"Right," Tony grabbed the hammer, but looked to Thor before he attempted to pull, "So, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?"

"That is how it goes," Athena nodded, there was more to it than that, but she doubted Tony would ever actually WANT to rule Asgard.

"Then I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta," Tony decreed.

"Try it and I'll 're-institute' regicide," Athena warned, not about to even let him JOKE about something like that. Prima Nocta, the right of a noble to bed a newlywed woman before her husband could. It was barbaric. She had seen her father do the same at his worst, and she would sooner castrate a man that allow him to do the same. It wasn't even that she'd have to 're-institute' the notion of king-slaying, it was still a very real threat to all kings, and she knew she would do it without hesitation if Tony ever became king of Asgard and went through with his decree. She doubted it would happen, but there was no harm in frightening the man a little.

Someone had to do it while Pepper (such a lovely woman) was away.

Tony cleared his throat in an awkward cough, seeming to realize that had likely NOT been a good jest to use around a woman like Athena, before he focused on the task at hand, grunting as he tried to lift and nearly lost his balance when Mjolnir didn't budge either, "I'll be right back…"

Thor and Athena exchanged a look at that, both even more amused to see what Tony might attempt next…only for him to return wearing one of his Ironman gauntlets, trying to lift the hammer again even with the thrusters going.

"Hold on," Rhodes got up, getting an idea from what Tony had done, hurrying to pull on one of his own War Machine gloves, moving to help him, but still…nothing, "Are you even pulling?"

"Are you on my team?" Tony sniped back the two men putting their all into it.

"Just represent! Pull!"

"Alright, let's go!" Tony cried, and they struggled for a moment or two more, till Tony noticed the smug look on Thor's face and huffed, releasing it and plopping down on his chair with a pout.

"Next?" Thor laughed.

Banner glanced around before getting up, not denying that he WAS curious how it worked and if he might be able to pull it up. He doubted he could, but it was always worth a shot, and no one seemed to be making a big deal of when others couldn't pull it, not really at least. So he stepped up and grabbed the hammer, pulling…till he started yelling in an imitation of when he would turn into the Hulk, making everyone fall silent and stare at him, but nothing happened. They all let out a little laugh when he shrugged and went to sit back down.

"Cap?" Hill looked at the man, the only one left of their group that hadn't gotten up to try it.

He gave her a look but sighed, getting up to try his hand anyway.

"Let's go, Steve!" Tony mock-cheered, though by this point there was a little more actual cheering in it, if even ONE of them besides Thor could lift it it would be Captain America, "No pressure. Come on, Cap!"

Steve took a breath, gripped the hammer tightly in both hands, and pulled with all his might, Thor's smirk just growing wider…

Till the hammer budged ever so slightly.

Thor's expression turned to one of deep surprise, the man seeming to hold his breath...till he realized that was ALL that Steve had managed, a budge but not a lift.

"Nothing," Thor laughed in relief.

Athena shook her head at that, elbowing him a little and giving him a warning look. He knew it well, it was what she gave him when she felt his arrogance was getting the better of him. And, to be honest, it was ever so slightly. Seeing all these men, these heroes of Earth, attempting to lift the hammer and none of them being worthy, knowing HE was…it did make him feel a bit smug. He gave her an apologetic look, reaching for her hand resting on his knee and lifted it to kiss the back as well.

"Well we have failed our gender," Tony muttered, "Still, there's hope for womankind," he looked at the women in the room, but Cho and Hill were shaking their heads.

"Widow?" Banner glanced at her.

"Oh, no, no," she leaned back, "That's not a question I need answered."

"How about our other resident god?" Tony turned to Athena.

Her smile grew more rueful, "I can't lift it."

"Give it a try," Steve smiled encouragingly at her. Really, maybe it was rigged so only immortals could hold it, and if that was the case, she WAS.

"I have," she answered, "A time or two," did they truly think that THEY were the only ones that had _ever_ gotten together after a revel to try and lift the hammer? As though she, Sif, and the Warriors Three hadn't all tried it as well, "I can't."

The room fell silent at that, surprised, well, most of them, that a woman that was so revered and praised in myth wouldn't be able to lift Mjolnir either. Thor and Natasha didn't appear shocked by her admission, though they seemed to be the ones to understand her best, to know more about her. Even though she hadn't actually TOLD Natasha much about her past, the woman was an expert at reading people, at picking up the smallest things from the tiniest utterances and remarks. She was observant like that, she knew more about Athena, or could guess enough about her to not be surprised.

Thor was the exception, he DID know about her, a large part of her past at least. Not everything, not all of it, not how she felt about it deep down. That wasn't something she wanted anyone else to know about, how ashamed she was of her past, how much she tried to be better. She would tell him, maybe, one day, when she felt she had atoned for herself, but for now, he knew enough to understand.

She hadn't been a good person, the myths told to the humans about her were far lighter and censored than the reality had been, the meanings and truth of it all lost in time and in translation. No matter how much she tried and worked towards it, there would always be something in her that she struggled with, a remnant of her past that threatened to come out. If she struggled, even now, with just her own will and the memory of the power she'd once had, if she had been able to wield Mjolnir? No, it was best it stay in Thor's hands.

She might be worthy, in Thor's eyes, to rule Asgard beside him, as its Queen and adviser, but she knew in her heart that Mjolnir didn't think she was worthy to rule alone. And she didn't either. She…she needed someone to balance her, to remind her of how she wanted to be better, to be more than what she was, stronger than she had been, and Thor was that. As an individual, she did not need anyone else to know her value, to support her or define her, she was as independent as they came. But in terms of ruling? In having even a shred of the power she had once had? No, in that sort of situation she would need someone there to watch out for her, keep her balanced.

"Well, all deference to the man-whose-not-king-yet," Tony cut the tension, "But it's rigged."

"You bet your ass," Barton agreed, taking a swig of his drink.

"Steve!" Hill pointed at Barton, her voice taking on an almost mocking-tattletale tone, "He said a bad language word."

"Did you tell _everyone_ about that?" Steve looked at Tony, irritated.

Tony just winked at him and turned to Thor, "The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation?"

Athena laughed at that, "Interesting theory."

"I have a simpler one," Thor countered, getting up and picking up the hammer as though it weighed nothing at all, "You're all not worthy," he made very sure to keep his tone light and jesting, not wanting to offend the men or make Athena feel worse.

The others jokingly began to disagree with that statement…when a loud screeching noise rang out, causing all of them to cover their ears moments before a deep voice spoke behind them, causing them to turn to see what appeared to be one of the Iron Legion pieced together and staggering to walk towards them, its eyes glowing with life.

"Worthy?" it asked, "No…how could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Stark…" Steve began to Tony, though he didn't take his attention off of the robot standing before them. Out of the corner of his eye he could see the others readying for a fight against what was likely their newest threat. Despite it being a party and most of them dressed for the occasion, they were all still capable of fighting at any moment.

"Jarvis!" Tony called, waiting a moment, tensing more as the seconds ticked by and Jarvis failed to respond.

"I'm sorry," the robot wobbled a bit, very unsteady on his feet, "I was asleep. Or..." it half twisted to the side, as though answering someone on its other side, "I was a dream?"

Tony shook his head, quickly tapping on a small control device in his hand, checking the security for the tower, "Reboot, Legionnaire," he called as command, "We got a buggy suit."

The group only continued to grow even more tense as the suit failed to shut down or reboot, but just kept staggering there before them, growing steadier the longer it was up.

"There was a terrible noise..." the robot almost groaned, an arm reaching up to rest on its head, warding off the memory of the sound, "And I was tangled in...in...strings," it sighed, "I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

Steve frowned, "You killed someone?" he shot Tony a look, the man quickly scanning through the device in hand to see who might be unaccounted for in his Tower, who might have been hurt…but there was nothing off about the lifesign readings or the bio-trackers.

"Wouldn't have been my first call," the robot lamented, "But, down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices."

Thor glanced at Athena, seeing her eyes flicking over the robot, a sure sign that she was looking for any hint of a weakness, and helped give her more time to do it by asking, "Who sent you?"

There was a faint clicking noise and Tony's own voice rang out, obviously recorded, "'I see a suit of armor around the world.'"

"Ultron!"

The shock was enough that someone recognized the suit of armor that almost every head turned to look at Banner, startled that HE was the one that had called out, that he was too staring at the robot, just as Tony was, with completely awe and recognition.

"What did you DO?" Athena sent a glare at both men, though her gaze landed on Tony more than Bruce, clearly both men knew what this 'Ultron' word meant, and with how Banner had also turned to Tony she could guess the man was the one in charge of whatever half-baked idea it was that had led to this.

"I didn't..." Tony shook his head, staring at Ultron, returning all their attention back to the robot, "You're not...you're not Ultron."

"Oh, but I am," they were quite sure that, if the robot could, it would have been smirking at the moment, "In the flesh," it added, before a grinding noise sounded, the robot hunching over to peer at itself, taking stock of what it looked like, of the robotic body it was inhabiting, "Or, no, not yet. Not this...chrysalis," it gestured almost hopelessly at its length, and straightened, "But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

That was all that was needed for Thor to tighten his hold on Mjolnir, for Hill to subtly cock her handgun and stand, for the Avengers to ready for battle.

"What mission?" Natasha dared ask.

Ultron tipped its head to the side, "Peace in our time."

Utter chaos reigned as the entire batch of Tony's Iron Legion robots broke through the walls on either side of Ultron, flying in from the ceilings and floors, racing right for the group, clearly intent to attack.

The Avengers, to their credit, reacted instantly to it. Steve kicked a table up for cover, Hill dove to the side, as did Banner and Natasha, Tony and Rhodes dropping to the ground. Thor swung Mjolnir as one flew right for him, immediately turning to see that Athena was protected, the dress did not leave much room for weapons nor were they expecting an attack that night, he feared for her safety against these metal men that were like miniature Destoryers.

It was only the threat of the battle going on around him that kept him from gaping openly at Athena as he caught her with her skirt tugged to the side, the slit parted and revealing her inner leg. It shouldn't have caused such a reaction in him, he had seen her legs before, her usual armor revealed it every day, but seeing that her leg, the one on the unslitted side, had what appeared to be a garter around it, a dagger attached to her thigh, had given him pause. The fact that she HAD managed to hide a weapon on her, while something he should have expected, had made him swallow hard at how truly beautiful and deadly she really was, a combination only a warrior could appreciate.

Athena pulled the dagger out and quickly used on a robot as it made for her, stabbing it through the forehead. The robot fell to the ground, useless for that was where a majority of its functioning ability circuits were stored, Tony had wanted the Legion to be as similar to human beings as possible.

Athena looked up, a small smirk on her face at Thor's wide eyes, but it fell suddenly as she gave a shout of, "Thor!" and threw the dagger at him.

No, not at him, he knew, turning to see it embed itself in the chest plate of one of the Legion as it had gone after his exposed and distracted back. He swung down on its stunned form, crushing its head in to stop it from continuing its attack. He grabbed the dagger out of it, turning to toss it back to Athena, giving her a nod before the two of them dove into the fray once more, doing their best to protect Dr. Cho as she was the one most vulnerable.

Though Tony seemed to want to give the woman a run for her money in terms of needing the most help and protection when he decided it would be his best option to replicate a move Steve had done only moments ago...and leap onto the back of one of the Legion and try to shut it down manually instead of just destroy it. What purpose that served was lost to them. What difference would it make to shut down one single robot without damaging it when the others were all going to be destroyed anyway? His time would have been better served getting to his Ironman suit instead, but they were in no position to bring that up and make the suit a target next.

Thor and Athena nodded to each other in silent communication, splitting up to better assist. Thor flew off with Mjolnir, slamming into a Legion robot to try and give Tony more time. Athena, moved for Cho, putting herself in the way of a Legion robot that was heading for her. She was quick, ducking and blocking as it tried to attack her physically instead of with its blasters, clearly damaged. But she was a warrior, she was trained in hand-to-hand combat and was able to finish it off, stabbing it in the back of the head as it fell to the ground. She turned, hearing Cho scream, to see a partially destroyed Legion robot had made it to her, aiming its blasting hand at her…only for Steve to grab it from behind and hurl it away to where Thor crushed it with Mjolnir.

"Get down, Stark!" Athena shouted up to the man, still clinging to one of the robots, her dagger tight in her grasp, ready to throw it and take down the robot the moment he let go.

"No, no, I got this!" he insisted.

"Cap!" Barton yelled, appearing above them and throwing Steve's shield to him just as Tony managed to get the robot down for the count.

Steve grabbed it, spinning to send it flying towards the last Legion robot, destroying it.

They stood, gathered together to face Ultron as he merely turned as though to walk away but instead turned to them, pacing, "That was dramatic!" Ultron remarked, "I'm sorry, I know you mean well," it was clear that was directed at Tony, the man sitting pitifully on the ground and looking up at not just his creation but the others as they glanced at him as well for his hand in this, "You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to _change_. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?" Ultron walked over to one of the fallen Legion robots, picking it up by the head, eyeing it, "With these? These puppets? There's only one path to peace," it looked up at them, crushing the robots head with a single squeeze of his hand, "The Avengers' extinction."

Thor reacted instantly to that, throwing Mjolnir at Ultron, shattering its metal body, one that seemed to only barely be holding together in the first place, to pieces.

But that wasn't the last of Ultron, even as the body fell apart they could hear its voice over the speakers and sound system throughout the room, singing to them, "I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me!"

Athena let out a deep breath, half blowing a strand of hair that had fallen before her out of her face and looked over to where Natasha was standing, "Was this enough action for the night?"

A/N: Not very much occurring in this chapter, I know, but I wanted to give more of a look to what others notice about Thor and Athena through Natasha as well as give a deeper look into Athena's own mind when it came to lifting Mjolnir. I really do doubt that, when the Warriors Three and Sif are together with Thor and Athena after a great battle, that they don't do the same thing every so often, see if they are now worthy enough to lift the hammer. If not often, then they've at least had to try it ONCE, I think :)

I was debating having Athena be able to lift it, but it just didn't fit, nor did the Athena in my head feel she would be able to either. There really is a lot of context and meaning lost when stories are translated. With the centuries between when Athena was on Earth and now, the stories and myths have become just that myths, with many different variations and versions of them. The true story, how really BAD it actually got, was lost with time and translation, so, with that in mind, even if Athena WAS worthy, SHE doesn't see herself as it, and if she doesn't feel worthy, I don't think Mjolnir would budge either. I think it's a balance, the hammer must think you're worthy and you must feel you're worthy as well. If you don't think you can handle something, then the power is diminished, in my mind :)

Some notes on reviews...

It's definitely a challenge with OCs sometimes lol :) For me, it's more my OCs all trying to poke me to write them first when they know there's a line and order to things lol. I wish you luck on your stories!

Ooh the twins, I am very much looking forward to when we get to them }:)

I can say that Steve will be teased very much when his OC is around, though I can say she's got her own set style that she refuses to let others change so Natasha might try to get her to tweak a few things instead, but the way Steve treats her and their relationship in general just comes off as 'too cute' to them, it's impossible for Tony NOT to tease them for it ;) Peggy will still feature into Steve's OC's story yup, but what her relationship with Peggy may or may not be I won't say just yet ;) Steve will have an initial reaction to both Peggy and the OC, but will eventually gravitate to the OC more as the story goes for various reasons ;)

Athena, once she learns what the twins can do, will find them very similar to her family, which will actually make the upcoming chapters a little harder for her to bear in being around them. The things they've done and how their actions affect her will bring up even more negative emotions than the movie portrayed with what Wanda does to a good number of Avengers, we'll see exactly what that is and why though ;) I can say that in the prequel, Athena has spoken at length about the Avengers and her time on Earth to some family members and they will comment on the humans and offer their opinions on them at different points yup ;)

So far things seem to have calmed down which is good :) I've got my fingers crossed that it'll keep up :)

I didn't really think the Natasha/Bruce thing made much sense either :/ Maybe if we'd had more hinting at or leading up to it in earlier movies I'd feel better about it :/ As for if Athena will try to reassure Natasha, it'll depend on if she gets attacked by Wanda and how it it might be affecting her too }:)


	4. Blame To Share

A/N: Just a quick warning, this chapter will contain references to rape and a very poor reaction to it and the victim, just after the notion of Ultron's 'rage' against Jarvis is brought up until Thor arrives if anyone would rather skip it.

~8~

Blame To Share

As though it hadn't been bad enough that Tony Stark had gone and created an insane robot that seemed bent on destroying the world more than protect it, the Avengers soon learned that Ultron had taken it a step further and stolen Loki's scepter from the lab.

It explained the unprompted attack. Ultron had needed them distracted from him and focused on the battle going on, and the robot had succeeded. They had been so determined to stop the robots attacking, to just defend themselves against the onslaught, that they hadn't thought to keep an eye on the scepter, hadn't even guessed that that would be Ultron's main focus. They had realized too late, when they had followed Tony into the lab when the man went to check on Jarvis, that the scepter was missing.

Athena had let out a string of curses in a language none of them were familiar with, though they were very certain that whatever she was saying were expletives judging by the venom in her voice.

Tony was sure that he would probably have been dead by now had Thor not had the good sense to reach out and grab the woman from lunging at him when she rounded on him suddenly, eventually managing to calm her to the point where she wouldn't actually kill him before the god of thunder departed to see if he might be able to follow the trail of the remaining Iron Legion that had escaped, namely the one that had to have grabbed the scepter, as he could fly.

Tony wouldn't have faulted her for it though. HE had been the one to convince the two immortals to leave the scepter in his hands for three days longer than they planned. HE had been the one to promise, to swear, that it would be protected and guarded and safe from falling into the wrong hands. He had meant HYDRA at the time, but Ultron fell into the category of 'wrong hands' whether they were metal or flesh. And HE had been the one that had created Ultron in the first place, even if Banner had helped, HE had been the one pushing for it, the one that left the program unattended to go to a party. And even in the end, he had been more concerned about Jarvis, his thoughts only allowing for the consideration that something happened to Jarvis instead of the scepter, instead of the thing that had brought Ultron to existence in the first place.

This…had not been his intention at all, Ultron, this version of him, had been the farthest thing from what he'd wanted and planned for and hoped for.

But he had taken the steps to see the robot created, and it was his entire fault that the bot had managed to grab the scepter. There was no end to what Ultron could do with it, and none of it was good.

Though, if he were being completely honest, he would rather be on the receiving end of Ultron and whatever he might do with the scepter than on the end of Athena's glare.

It was times like these that he remembered Athena, according to myth, had been the one to bestow upon another woman the ability to turn men to stone, to kill them. That ability had to have come from somewhere, and now he knew where.

"All our work is gone," Banner remarked as they all regrouped in another room of Stark Towers, having each checked systems and security and other things to see if Ultron was still hanging around, to try and figure out what he'd done and how he'd done it. HE had been checking the files on Ultron while Tony had been searching for Jarvis.

"As is the scepter," Athena shot a dark look at Tony.

Most would think she was angry at him for the situation, blaming him for it. And she was, but not as much as the others would assume.

No, she was angry with herself, blaming herself. She KNEW she and Thor should have brought the scepter back to Asgard immediately after obtaining it. She knew that humans were fallible, and no matter how much protection Tony might offer, the scepter would never be safe around humans. She knew, she had seen it happen before with the very same scepter, that it was far too easy for it to fall into the wrong hands. She knew all this, and yet SHE had given in and allowed them the extra days.

This was her fault. If she had just insisted more, left no room for argument, or even threatened to take the scepter back to Asgard herself, whether Thor came or not, this would never have happened. All of this, this new threat, could have been avoided if she had just done what she knew in her mind and heart was the right thing and brought the damned bloody scepter back.

Now it was too late, now it had not only been stolen but a new threat had arisen, one that seemed to know all about each of them and their weaknesses. How else would it know they weren't 'worthy' or that they were 'killers' without having some sort of knowledge about them. And an enemy that knew your greatest weaknesses, that could study your past successes, was the most dangerous of all.

It was easy to blame Tony, to look at him with her glares and see him look away guilty, but she was trying not to. She did blame him, not as much as she blamed herself.

Banner coughed at that, "Ultron cleared us out," he continued, looking away from Athena when she shot a look at him as well, knowing that he was equally as at fault as Tony was. He might not have started the Ultron project but he had gone along with it, he hadn't tried to stop Tony as much as he could have, and he HAD helped, "Used the internet as an escape hatch."

"Ultron…" Steve glanced between the two men for that, both had used that name before the robot had even gone by it, they had both known, they had both had something to do with its creation. He couldn't help but cross his arms in disappointment.

"He's been in everything," Natasha agreed, recalling what she'd learned sorting through programs of her own, "Files, surveillance."

"Of course he has," Athena sighed, rubbing her forehead, "If I were to confront someone, I would wish to know about them. If I were to engage them in battle, it is best to know their weaknesses."

Thor would have smiled at that, she knew, had he heard her say that. Had the situation been less serious, she too would have smiled, recalling the very first match they had ever fought on the training fields. She had prolonged it, what, she was sure, he had taken to be hesitation and a realization that she had gone in over her head, had really been her testing him, observing his reactions and techniques so she could learn where he was weakest and take him down. And therein lied the reason she couldn't even bring herself to try to smile, now someone else was using it against them.

It was even more her fault now too, because Ultron, according to Tony, had come from the scepter, from the scans he had been running on it and tinkering with. Ultron was, essentially, an Asgardian creation. That made Ultron hers and Thor's problem, but also a threat to the planet and so something the Avengers needed to deal with as well.

"Which means he knows more about us than we know about each other," Natasha sighed, getting that.

"Nuclear codes," Hill frowned, adding her own research to the mix, Ultron was trying to access the nuclear codes for the entire world. And there was only ever two things someone did when they had access to them, lock them down and destroy them…or use them. And Ultron struck her as the sort to use it without hesitation.

"Nuclear codes," Rhodes closed his eyes, inwardly cursing at how the night just kept getting worse. First he's not worth to lift a hammer, then he gets attacked and thrown around by robots, and now another robot was trying to blow up the planet, "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can," he turned to the others.

Natasha had to frown at the new information though, "Nukes? He said he wanted us dead."

"These…nukes," Athena frowned at the odd word, "They are weapons?" Natasha nodded, "Then they would likely kill us dead if he were to use them."

"Us and three other towns," Natasha mumbled.

"And he didn't say dead," Steve added, seeming to want to clear it up, "He said extinct."

"It is the same thing," Athena huffed, "But a larger scale."

"He also said he killed somebody," Barton reminded them, having finished going through the files of personnel for Stark as well as news reports, but there was nothing about anyone being murdered by a barely functioning robot.

"But there wasn't anyone else in the building," Hill agreed, frowning at that.

"Yes there was," Stark murmured, reaching out to flick a control at the middle of the room, bringing up a hologram of what appeared to be a reddish-orange explosion frozen in time.

"This is insane," Banner gaped openly at the sight before them, seeming horrified.

"And this is..." Athena eyed the odd display, not understanding, frowning as she tried to work it out.

"Jarvis," Banner swallowed hard, "That's an image of Jarvis's consciousness, torn to shreds."

"Jarvis was the first line of defense," Steve reasoned, "He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense."

"No," Banner argued, "Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is..."

"Rage," Athena spoke quietly, softly uttering the word, familiar with the feeling.

She had once been so enraged that a young priestess of hers would forsake her solemn oaths and, not only give her body to someone else, but to desecrate her own temple by engaging in the act right on her altar…and with her uncle. She had been so blinded by anger and rage that she had cursed the girl, made her hideous, made it so that no other man would ever be able to come near her again for her to continue to break her oath, by forcing her gaze to turn men to stone. She had turned a girl, one she had later learned was innocent, into a monster, one that ended up being hunted as a prize by one of her half-brother, Perseus. She had helped the boy even, had guided him through his quest until the time where he was able to behead the girl.

He'd eventually presented the girl's monstrous head to her as a prize, one she had worn proudly affixed to her armor.

She still wore it, for a vastly different reason than when she'd first received it. Back then it had been a trophy of sorts, telling all that looked at it how cruel and powerful she was, how effectively she could destroy the lives of those that crossed her. She wore it for power and instilling fear.

Now though…now she wore it as a reminder of what she had done to an innocent girl, of what she had let herself become, of mistakes she'd made that she did not ever want to repeat.

Oh there were some versions of the myth that said she had blessed Medusa with her stone-creating stare, a way to offer the young woman protection against men, a way where she would forever be safe and in control of her body and life, that no man would ever be a threat to her again. But they were wrong, so wrong, she had cursed a young girl that had been raped by her uncle to a life of misery and pain and isolation, orchestrated for her death, and wore her head as a prize for so long.

She should have listened to the girl's pleas that it wasn't her fault, that she hadn't wanted what happened, that Poseidon had forced her. She should have listened, but instead she had seen only the action and where it took place and who was involved. She'd felt rage when she should have felt compassion, felt anger towards Medusa when it should have been towards Poseidon, and felt betrayal when she should have felt guilt. Medusa was HER priestess, she served in HER temple, dedicated her life to HER service…and at the first test of that, she turned her back on the girl. It was a regret, a shame, and a burden she would bear for the rest of her long life.

She had failed to protect Medusa, she wasn't ever going to make that mistake again. And that was anger and rage, the shortest distance to a mistake that could cost someone else more than just their life. Wisdom came from patience and understanding, something she had lost during that time and regained with difficulty. She would not lose it again, but she understood it.

It was likely not the best thing to wish for, but she indeed hoped that Ultron WAS angry, was full of rage, if he was…it would be easier to deal with him, he wouldn't be thinking clearly at all.

"Yeah," Banner breathed, glancing at Athena for her tone, eyeing her just a moment before his attention went back to the hologram. For a moment there, it almost sounded like she felt that rage, or had felt it, like she could empathize with the feeling. He doubted it though, HE was the expert on rage after all, "This…"

Banner was cut off suddenly by the arrival of Thor, the man, back in his Asgardian armor, stalking through the room, heading right for Tony, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him into the air.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Barton tried to calm him down, seeing that Athena, for once, was letting Thor react, though whether it was because she still seemed a little lost on thought or that she was just THAT angry with Tony he didn't know, "It's going around…"

"Come on," Tony grunted, "Use your words, buddy."

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark," Thor nearly sneered.

"Thor!" Athena snapped out of her thoughts, snapping at him as well.

Thor instantly released Tony, shaking his head at the man before he made his way over to Athena's side, feeling just a fraction calmer when standing next to her. She often helped him keep control of his temper when it would get the best of him, and she seemed relatively calm for now.

"The Legionnaire?" Steve turned to the god for a report.

"Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north," Thor stated, "And it has the scepter," it had been a hope of his that the scepter might have been lost or released in transit, that Ultron would find no use for it now that he was 'alive,' but his hopes were dashed when he caught sight of one holding it before they had sped up to lose him, "Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"I should have brought it back to Asgard," Athena muttered, "I knew I should. Why didn't I?"

"Uh, because your king doth command it?" Tony tried to make light, absently rubbing his neck from where Thor had grabbed him.

"Not my king," Athena just shook her head, Thor not seeming at all displeased with her statement, understanding that he truly wasn't.

Yes, in a technical way, he was in the sense that she swore an Oath to the House of Odin when she arrived and joined the ranks of soldier of Asgard, when she was taken into his father's Council. But also not, in a sense that her father would always be her true king, the one that had her loyalty and love first, in a sense that HE was not king yet while Odin ruled as well.

"Not that it would matter," Athena added, "I could have taken the scepter to Asgard alone, yet I didn't. And because I didn't, all of this happened."

"There's a lot more blame to go around than just on you," Steve tried to be reasonable.

It fell on Thor too, for not taking the responsibility more seriously and being the king he was meant to be, returning artifacts to Asgard. It fell on Tony for wanting to use the scepter in the first place, all of them now realizing his insistence on Thor and Athena staying longer had been based wholly on wanting the scepter and not about wanting to give them a proper farewell. It fell on Banner for not stopping Tony when he had the chance, for walking away when he could and significantly slow down Tony's progress. And it fell on the rest of them for not encouraging the gods to go, for not pushing them to return to Asgard, for lowering their guards enough to think a party would be a good idea instead of getting a dangerous weapon as far away from Earth as possible. And it fell on all of them for not realizing that Ultron was after the scepter, that the attack had been a mere distraction.

Yes, there was plenty of blame to go around.

"The genie's out of that bottle," Natasha waved it off, "The clear and present threat is Ultron."

"I don't understand," Cho, who had been eerily silent the entire time, most having allowed her that time due to the shock they were sure she was feeling, spoke, turning to Tony, "You built this program. Why is it trying to kill us?"

Tony was silent all of a second before he burst out laughing, Banner trying to get him to stop with a shake of his head. Athena had to wonder if he had either gone mad or if this was such a common occurrence for the things he created, that they tried to kill him, for it to be humorous someone would wonder WHY it was happening when it always did.

If it was the latter, she was truly going to murder the man. If everything you built and programmed tried to kill you in the end, WHY would he ever think using Asgardian technology, that far beyond human understanding, would be a good thing? Why would he attempt to build an 'Ultron' if he knew, as his luck went, that it would turn on him and try to kill them all instead?

Thor glared at him, "You think this is funny?"

"No," Tony shook his head, sobering, or at least trying to, "It's probably not, right? Is this very terrible? Is it so...is it so...it is. It's so terrible."

"You never should have toyed with technology you couldn't possibly begin to understand," Athena gave him an angry look, leaving out the 'this never would have happened.'

"No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry," he cleared his throat, failing to stop his low chuckles, "It is funny. It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

Banner shifted in place, uncomfortable, "Tony, maybe this might not be the time to..."

"Really?!" Tony rounded on him, now, suddenly, all too serious, "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls."

"Only when I've created a murder bot," Banner deadpanned.

Tony rolled his eyes, "We didn't. We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

Banner shrugged at that, honestly not sure.

"Well, you did something right," Steve stepped up, "And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD."

Tony stepped back at that, looking around the room, "Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" he pointed up as though indicating where the wormhole was in the sky though there was nothing there.

"No," Rhodes remarked, "It's never come up."

Tony turned to him, "Saved New York?"

"Never heard that."

"Recall that?" this time he spoke more to the other Avengers, the ones that had been there, that had lived it, "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers," he agreed, focusing on Steve, "We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there? That's...that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?"

"Together," was Steve's firm response, Athena and Thor nodding to that, if ever there was an 'alien' threat such as the Chitauri or others that Asgard had dealt with in the past, they would be there, beside their allies, to help.

"We'll lose," Tony shook his head.

"Then we'll do that together, too," Steve stared him down till Tony looked away, "Thor's right," he got back to business, "Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

~8~

The computers on Earth were both more primitive than the technology on Asgard as well as being more convoluted, in Athena's opinion, it had made her and Thor nearly useless in helping the Avengers track down Ultron. She and Thor had gone off to where the trail had gone cold, seeing if there might be something she could pick up that he'd missed, a new pair of eyes looking at it. But there had been nothing of use so they had returned to Stark Towers to find the others had been called in. Apparently there was a new development in their investigation.

And that development came in the form of a report by Hill, who had been tracking Ultron through his infiltration of robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs, and more. So far no one had died, till now, till an image of Stucker sitting slumped in his prison bed, a gunshot wound to the chest leaving a smattering on the wall where someone had written 'Peace' in his blood, had been discovered.

"What's this?" Tony asked as Thor shoved the small tablet that he and Athena had been looking at the photo on into his chest.

"A message," Steve stated, "Ultron killed Strucker."

It was the first intentional fatality, but they all knew it would likely not be the last.

"And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us," Tony muttered.

"This is a smokescreen," Natasha warned, "Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"

Thor glanced over at Athena at Natasha's words. If the human had realized that, so would Athena in all likelihood, but the woman was silent, unnaturally silent. He could see her, just behind him, now looking at a file Hill had left up on a monitor of the two Enhanceds that they'd encountered in Sokovia who had now seemed to have joined Ultron. Their photos were there, with a few details of their lives, names and ages and abilities. Something about them seemed to have captured Athena's attention as she was fixated on them, not even reading their information but appearing to be staring at the screen in thought.

He didn't dare interrupt her, for all he knew she was trying to work out a way to stop the two, going through what she knew of them in search of weaknesses, that and…if she was focusing on these twins, then she was thinking less about how the scepter was still in Ultron's hold and blaming herself for it.

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss," Steve agreed.

"Yeah," Natasha got up and moved over to where Athena was, half-pushing her out of the way without a thought, shaking the woman from her thoughts, as she closed down the file on the twins and tried to bring up something else, "I bet he..." she nodded, finding nothing at all, "Yep. Everything we had on Strucker has been erased."

"Not everything," Tony moved across the room, opening what appeared to be an ancient, large cabinet, and pulling out cardboard boxes filled with files, "Time for some teamwork people."

Steve stepped up, peering at the boxes, and pulling one out, seeing they were all labeled, "Known associates," he read, picking it up and opening it, nearly gaping at the amount of papers in it, each seeming to have a different person on it from what he could tell as he began to sort, the others taking his lead, "Well, Strucker had a lot of friends."

Banner, who had gotten part two of Steve's box, was grimacing as he went, "Well, these people are all horrible," he held up a picture to show the others, a brutish looking man with a grimace on his face and tattoos on his neck.

"Wait," Tony reached out, pointing at the photo, "I know that guy," Banner quickly handed the paper over, the others crowding around the table to sort, "From back in the day," Tony nodded, "He operates off the African coast, black market arms," he rolled his eyes, seeing Steve giving him a disapproving, almost accusatory look, "There _are_ conventions, alright? You meet people, I didn't sell him anything. He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very 'Ahab.'"

"Ulysses Klaue," Athena read the file on the man, passing Thor the picture of the man to focus on the file instead. If this man was that sort of dealer, willing to pass off weapons for money, he might be a good place to start, have enough connections to know if Ultron had been anywhere else.

"Athena," Thor called after a moment of examining it, "Look. This."

Athena leaned over, peering at where Thor was pointing at the man's neck, at what appeared to be a tattoo, which made her squint, because it most certainly wasn't…

"Uh, it's a tattoo," Tony waved it off, "I don't think he had it..."

"No," Athena shook her head, "It is too raw and angry to be a tattoo."

"This is a brand," Thor agreed, seeing what Athena had, having wanted her confirmation that he had seen truly, the mark looked like a scar more than a wanted design.

Banner reached out for the paper, taking it back and moving to a computer, scanning it in. He quickly ran a program that tried to identify the mark, nodding when a match came up, "Oh, yeah. It's a word in an African dialect meaning thief, in a much less friendly way."

"What dialect?" Steve asked, if they knew the dialect, they could track the location easier.

"Wakanada..." Banner struggled to pronounce it, making it sound like Wah-Canada, before nearly getting it, "Wa...Wa...Wakanda."

Tony stiffened at that, making Athena and Thor frown, "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods..."

Steve too seemed to understand what was alarming Tony, though it appeared no one else did, "I thought your father said he got the last of it?"

"I don't follow," Banner voiced what they were all feeling, "What comes out of Wakanda?"

Tony glanced over to where Steve's shield was lying against a table, the man never without it, "The strongest metal on earth."

Athena frowned a moment, walking over to pick up the shield, examining it between her hands, testing it, before shrugging and setting it down, it might be the strongest metal on Earth, but it was hardly the strongest in the realms. Which was likely a good thing as if Ultron had access to the metals of Asgard or Olympus, to the weapons crafted in both places, the Avengers would have far more to worry about.

"Where is this guy now?" Steve demanded, turning to Hill, needing the man tracked down.

Because the one thing any metal man would want…was an indestructible metal body.

~8~

It was surprisingly easy to track Ultron down in the darkened warehouse of a salvage yard along the African coast. Once they'd traced Klaue to that particular warehouse and infiltrated the building, all Athena, Thor, Captain America, and Ironman needed to do was follow the enraged shouting of, "You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men?! I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is..." and then the screaming that followed.

They could make out Ultron as they entered the room, behind the metal man…and the two Enhanced, the Maximoff Twins standing with him.

"I'm sorry," the robot sighed, "I am sor...ooh, I'm sure that's going to be ok," he appeared to be speaking to the fallen man, "I'm sorry, it's just…I don't understand. Don't compare me with Stark!"

Athena winced as Ultron kicked a man that was now missing an arm in the chest, sending him toppling down the stairs, another man rushing after him. It was all too clear what the screaming had been before, the wound on the man's arm was too fresh to have not come from Ultron moments ago.

"It's a thing with me," Ultron added to the twins, "Stark is…he's a sickness!"

"Ahh, Junior," Ironman called as he descended from above in his armored suit, landing before his three teammates to face his creation, "You're gonna break your old man's heart."

A/N: I'm really excited for the next chapter }:D

Some notes on reviews...

Appearance is tricky, I agree. For me, it's like I know what they look like, I can picture them clearly, but I know I need improvement in my writing where I can get it to the point where readers can picture it just as clearly without ending up spending paragraph upon paragraph just of description :/ The hardest part then is trying to find an actress or actor that comes close enough to how I see an OC to help others visualize it :/

Lol, I could see that being their reaction too :) Just imagining if Athena and Aphrodite's reputations were 'swapped' in myth but not in their actual lives, Athena would be so flustered when people bring that up and Thor would be like 'I shall teach you how to show a woman respect you puny mortal!' :) We'll have to wait and see who gets taken by the twins ;) As for Cho, I can say there will be a mention of her in the story to help explain what I think/hope happened to her yup ;) Lol, oh Tony would very much act like that :)

My tumblr is updated when I have extra time to get on it, recently, now that I've caught up answering my tumblr asks from when I was unable to get online, I've been focusing on catching up here and answering PMs. But I'm also working on filling my queue so that it should be updated everyday, probably next week ;)

I'm really glad the stories were able to inspire you, and I wish you the very best of luck on your stories! :') I've seen previews for Lucifer, but I haven't seen the show yet so I can't say if there might be an OC or not till I've seen it, so there's always a chance one will pop up ;)


	5. Prophecy or Nightmare?

Prophecy or Nightmare?

Ultron regarded Ironman with as much disinterest as a robot could muster, "If I have to."

"Nothing need be broken," Athena stepped up beside Thor, the two of them on Ironman's right while Captain America took his left, "Peace can be brokered with words."

"Aye," Thor agreed, supporting her, "We don't have to break anything."

"Clearly you've never made an omelet," Ultron mused.

Ironman huffed at that, "He beat me by one second."

"Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark," one of the twins, the boy, Pietro was his name according to the files, took a step towards them as he spoke, his sister glancing at him and following, "It's what, comfortable? Like old times?"

Ironman shook his head, "This was never my life."

"You two can still walk away from this," Captain America warned, directing his words more towards the twins.

"Oh, we will," the girl, Wanda, almost sneered at him, making it very clear to them that the twins intended to fight them, and were very certain that THEY would be the ones surviving that fight.

"I know you've suffered…" Captain America tried to get through to them still.

"Urgh!" Ultron cut in, what would have been comically at how petulant the robot sounded, had he not continued, "Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war," he tilted his head to observe the soldier before him, "I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..."

Athena shook her head at that, the more Ultron spoke the less a threat he seemed. In the sense that, the more he spoke the more she couldn't help but think he really wasn't as serious as he could be. But, then again, she could see how he got that from Ironman, the man was always cracking jokes in the middle of serious situations.

It was a defensive mechanism as much as it was a means to throw off the enemy, she knew that much. Ironman sometimes did it so that the enemy wouldn't know how truly nervous he was about a battle or how hurt he was by an attack. If he was well enough to joke, then he was well enough to keep fighting and he revealed no weaknesses to others that would use it against him. On the other hand, it also served the purpose of making the enemy think that he didn't know what he was doing in the jokes he made. It made them feel like he wasn't taking the situation seriously enough and caused them to underestimate him, see him as someone easier to beat…which often blew up in their face in the end.

She would not make that mistake with Ultron, the more he spoke, no matter if it was to get them to lower their guards or see him as less a threat, the more it made her want to just end the robot to shut it up.

Something she was also familiar with when it came to Ironman as well

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it," Thor too tried to reason.

It made Athena smile to hear, despite the situation, that Thor was trying to broker peace with words before resorting to violence. It was so different from the Thor she had first met, the Thor that had marched into Jotunheim to assert his power over the Frost Giants instead of trying to work out a way to defend instead of attack. This was a humble Thor, a Thor she was proud of and honored to be loved by. To see him consider the big picture, how harm might come from a battle, destruction and death and injury, and wanting to avoid it instead of rush into it…it was a truly marvelous thing to witness. And it made her even more certain that Thor was ready to become king of Asgard when they returned with the scepter once they reclaimed it…yet again.

"I think you're confusing peace with quiet," Ultron remarked.

"No," Athena shook her head, "I know the difference between peace and quiet, this," she gestured between herself, Thor, Ironman, and Captain America, "What we are trying to achieve now, is peace."

"You know nothing of peace," Wanda sneered at her.

Athena narrowed her eyes, "And you know nothing of true war," she countered, "You are blinded by hate," she added, eyeing the twins. It was all too clear, from their files, from what they knew of the experiments done to them, from their past, from how they were glaring and fixated on Ironman more than any of them, that they held an intense hatred of Tony Stark.

"What's the Vibranium for?" Ironman took up, needing confirmation for a theory so he could work out how to prevent the war if this battle didn't end in their favor.

"I'm glad you asked that," Ultron spoke, sarcasm heavy in his voice, "Because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan!"

His tone was all the Avengers needed in warning before the Iron Legion, now under Ultron's control, broke through the walls once more and launched their latest attack on them. They leapt into action, taking out robot after robot, as many as they could, in order to give Ironman even a window of opportunity to attack Ultron, which they managed.

But, of course, just as the battle seemed to be almost turning in their favor, other men broke in, Klaue's men, attacking them as well, but still, they held strong and kept Ironman's efforts away from them and focused on Ultron, even with the twins attempting to help their leader.

There was a loud thud, that had Athena glancing over as she beheaded a robot with her sword, to see Captain America had managed to slam Pietro down into the ground with his shield to the boy's chest, "Stay down, kid!"

"It's time for some mind games!" Ultron shouted, the order directed at Wanda as she stepped forward, grinning darkly at them.

"Thor!" Athena called, seeing the young girl trying to sneak up on Thor.

He spun around just as he heard the shout, shaking his head as a red light tried to swirl around it, and moved to attack Wanda, but the girl had already fallen back.

"Thor!" he looked over to see Captain America fighting beside him, "Status?"

Thor shook his head, "The girl tried to warp my mind," he warned, "Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty," he smirked, turning to finish off the robot he'd been battling…

When he found himself on Asgard once more, shocking him for this was not the warehouse that he had just been battling in. It was the Main Hall of his palace in Asgard, the room reserved for revels, where there appeared to be all his friends and family smiling and laughing, drinking and eating and being merry. He stepped forward, confused as he could not spot Athena in the crowd, when he spotted someone out of the corner of his eye, cloaked in black and heading for the hallway.

He frowned, his mind immediately turning to thoughts that an enemy had breached their walls, and turned to follow. He had made it just out into the hall, when he realized the person had vanished.

"Is it him?" a deep voice spoke behind him, making him spin around, his eye wide in horror as he saw Heimdall had approached, his eyes entirely white as though he were blind, "Is that the first son of Odin?"

"Heimdall," he breathed, gaping, "Your eyes!"

"Oh, they see everything," Heimdall waved it off, though his expression and tone grew harder and harsher, "They see you leading us to Hel!" he declared, glaring at Thor with such a hated expression, "Wake up!" he lunged forward suddenly, his hands moving to Thor's neck, trying his hardest to strangle him.

"I can still save you!" Thor insisted, trying to get Heimdall off without injuring a man he considered to be an ally and friend.

"We are all dead!" Heimdall snarled, "Can you not see?" he grunted as Thor managed to shove him off, "You're a destroyer, Odinson. See where your power leads!"

Thor grunted as Heimdall sent a firm kick to his chest, knocking him backwards and into a wall behind him…which seemed to be just what he needed to snap out of whatever nightmarish vision that had been. He panted, looking around, seeing Captain America dazed and just standing there, clearly having been affected by the twins as well. His mind immediately snapped to Athena and he spun around, trying to find her, his heart nearly breaking in his chest when he saw her kneeling on the ground, her eyes closed, her hands pressed over her ears as she rocked back and forth, shaking her head.

He let out an angry roar and raced to her side, slamming his fist completely through the chest of the last remaining Iron Legion in the building that had been attempting to attack her at her weakest. He dropped to his knees, ignoring Captain America as the man came out of his trance and tried to get a status report from the others, now that they were clearly alone in the warehouse, to focus on Athena, needing to find a way to wake her from where her mind had trapped her.

Whatever it was that could reduce a woman and warrior like Athena to this had to be truly devastating…

~8~

Wanda turned a glare on Athena for her shout of warning and raced after her, pushing her hands out towards the woman in attack, sending a blast of red energy at her chest...before quickly sending a softer wisp of red energy at the woman's head...

Athena grunted as she was knocked to the ground, feeling the breath leave her from the force of the blow. She pushed herself up, glaring at Wanda as she smirked down at her…only to hear a cry of pain from beside her. She looked over, intending to spare but a single glance to check that Thor, for she knew his voice, was alright before focusing back on Wanda, only to gasp at the sight. Thor had been thrown back by a blow from Ultron, flying through a wall…and had yet to get up.

"Thor!" she shouted, rushing to jump through the hole in the wall and check on him, knowing that they would need all the allies and help they could get with Kalue's men engaging them along with the Twins and Ultron's Legion.

She leapt up, landing on the other side of the hole…and froze.

She wasn't in the warehouse any longer, this wasn't the same dank and dark room that she had expected on the other side of the wall. And she knew without a doubt that this also wasn't anything she KNEW could be on Earth. The room she'd found herself in was too familiar to her, a place she had been before numerous times, and one she knew was not on Earth at all.

She looked around, her mouth hanging open in horror at the sight before her, her eyes wide with fear at what she was seeing.

It was her father's throne room on Olympus, but it was different, it was just as dark as in the warehouse, it felt cold and dangerous instead of what her last memories of it were like. This was too much, just seeing the darkness around her, feeling the chill in the air…smelling the scent of blood wafting around her, this was too much like the Dark Days, the days that had been so devastating and full of hatred, anger, and pain for her family.

She forced herself to look away from what was below her, trying to find something else to focus on, something to tell her this wasn't real. But it was too…right, everything was exactly as she remembered it to be. Her father's throne stood above everything on a set of marble steps that brought it many feet up.

Her father rarely used it though, for it made them all feel as though they were less important than Zeus and, after the Dark Days, he had agreed on equality among his fellow gods. They had done away with the use of the throne room though the room itself remained, choosing instead to debate and discuss important matters in another room that had a rounded table in it, sets for not just the 12 primary Olympians, but for Hades, Persephone, and Hestia as well. The only time her father used the room was when he was speaking down to a single individual, holding a trial, or wanting to intimidate someone (like Thor).

Thor!

She fell back as she caught sight of him below her, falling down to sit upon the throne, seeing her absolute worst fears playing out before her very eyes.

The room was dark, not even the moon or stars visible above her, but she could still see what was happening below.

Just at the end of the stairs, being almost paraded around before it, was her family, all in chains, all looking beaten and battered, in pain and wounded. But it wasn't just them, her friends were included, Thor and Sif, the Warriors Three, the Avengers, those she called allies and family if not in blood were all there, chained to each other. Their gazes were cast down, their bodies tense, muscles tightened in fear.

"Thor!" she called, her heart breaking when she saw him flinch, his eyes closing as though expecting some terrible blow to strike at him. He couldn't even look at her, "Thor please!"

She pushed herself off the throne and ran down the stairs, nearly falling to her knees when the 'prisoners' before her backed up in terror, before trying to flee from her.

And she realized, SHE was the one they feared, she was the one they were now looking at with terror and pain in their eyes. SHE had done this to them, she had hurt her family, her friends, the people she loved, and made them as good as prisoners, and now they were trying their hardest to get away from her.

The doors at the end of the throne room suddenly burst open, she didn't know how, but they did, and the prisoners fled as fast as they could with their arms and legs bound. They seemed to have taken the doors opening as an order to get out, they were moving so fast, each trying to get away from her quicker than the others.

Athena shook her head, tears in her eyes as she saw them flee from her and tried to follow, tried to reach out for Thor, for her father, for Natasha, anyone to get them to listen, to tell her how this had happened.

But she stopped dead just outside the doors, truly falling to her knees at the sight beyond it. It was as though she were on a cliff or a large hill and looking down at a settlement, only this wasn't anything of the sort. And the stark difference from what she was seeing below her compared to what she'd experienced in the throne room was jarring.

The humans were there, seeming to be living in absolute poverty, all of them dirty and clearly starving, a good number of them appeared gravely ill as well…but the moment they saw her, it was like their entire spirit had been restored. They leapt to their feet, screaming praises, raising their hands as though they could reach her and touch her, falling to their knees. They looked at her with such wide, awed and reverential eyes, they were _worshiping_ her. They had nothing, she knew, she just KNEW that she was the reason for it, that she had condemned them to this life, and yet they looked at her as though she were their everything, as though they couldn't survive if they couldn't look upon her.

No, no this…this wasn't real. This couldn't be real!

She brought her hands to her face, shaking her head fiercely, as though she could shake herself out of this terrible nightmare.

This was nothing she wanted.

And yet, everything she once had.

At her very worst, she wanted this, she wanted this deep worship, she wanted this power, over the humans, over her own family. Not a single member of her family hadn't, at one point, thought about staging a coup on her father and naming themselves the master of Olympus. They all had, some had even attempted it. But this, seeing it happen, seeing herself succeed, it was creating the worst feeling inside her. Because she did NOT want it…but she also knew, deep down, a part of her always would.

"No!" she closed her eyes, pressing her hands over her ears as she heard the cheers growing louder, could hear the humans scrambling to be closer to her, trying to climb up the cliff to get to her, "No…"

She started to rock back and forth, wanting out of this, wanting to be away from it. It wasn't real, it couldn't be real. SHE wouldn't do this, not now, not anymore. She didn't want this, she couldn't want it. Everything she had striven for since the Dark Days would be in vain if she gave into this temptation now, if she began to want to stay in this world.

This wasn't her anymore, this wasn't her, she didn't want it, she wouldn't hurt her family again, she would never cause such pain to Thor, she would rather die than be worshiped by the humans again.

She kept repeating that in her mind, that it wasn't real, that it couldn't be, over and over and over again…

Till she felt someone shaking her, heard, in the distance, her name being called, but still she tried to ignore it. It sounded like Thor's voice, but he wasn't there, he had run from her. She had hurt him, enslaved him, cast him off into the rabble as though he meant nothing to her, and she deserved him to run from her. He wasn't there, he'd fled, he wasn't there, she had pushed him away, he wouldn't be there for her. She didn't deserve him to be there…she didn't deserve anyone to stand at her side.

Because this was her, this was what could have been, had she been faster, stronger, smarter, this could have happened. She could have won, she could have been the Queen of Olympus, the humans would have cowered at the mention of her name, she could have conquered the other realms and…

"Athena!"

Athena gasped as she felt her hands being pulled off of her ears, her body being shaken even more than before, the violent jolt and the loud voice in her ear, the desperation, the fear, the worry in it, snapping her out of the vision.

She blinked only once as her eyes locked on Thor's wide ones, to find herself back in the warehouse, on her knees, her eyes on the verge of filling with tears before she forced them closed, taking a deep breath, refusing to let them fall. She knew, from just the quick glance, that the battle was over, that the twins and Ultron had fled, that she had failed to continue the fight.

This fight was over, but she could sense that another one had just begun, one that would be infinitely harder to handle.

~8~

Thor honestly and truly couldn't bring himself to care about the other Avengers and the state they were in as they all sat silently on the jet, heading to a safe house of some sort to recuperate. He had learned that not only had he, Steve, and Athena been targeted by Wanda, but so had Natasha and Banner. Barton had managed to avoid being overtaken, having learned from his last brush with mind altering and training to prevent it happening again, which was why the man was currently piloting the jet, none of them were in a state to do so.

If Thor had bothered to really notice, he was sure he'd see how truly shaken everyone else was by their encounter with Wanda, with the visions she forced them to see, they all had their own demons that the girl had forced them to confront. But he didn't. Because that wasn't what was important to him right at that very moment, Athena was.

Yes, he had been hit by Wanda as well, but he seemed to have fought his way out of it, Athena had needed to be shaken from it. Which meant that, whatever Athena had seen, was something she couldn't fight against. And anything that she was unable to fight, that left her nearly sobbing on the ground, was something he needed to concern himself with. He could put his own discomfort and violations aside to help her, and it seemed she truly did need the help.

She hadn't said a word, not to him, not even to Natasha when the woman asked if she was ok. She had been silent the moment he had gotten her out of her vision, but had hardly been able to look him or anyone else in the eye since then. She was sitting there, even now, her arms resting on her knees, her hands clasped so tightly that her knuckles were turning white, her head bowed and gaze fixed on her hands with a blank look on her face that he knew had only come from centuries of training to not allow others to see the weakness painted across your face. She was hurting, deeply, she was frightened and confused, and in pain, and he just wanted it to stop, he wanted to help her…but she wouldn't talk to him.

And that was what was alarming him most. He was sitting there, right beside her, half turned towards her, his gaze locked on her, but she hardly noticed. If he reached out and touched her back, in an offer of comfort, she flinched and shied away from him. If he spoke to her, it was as though she didn't hear him, so lost in her thoughts was she…or perhaps it was that she just found it too painful to speak to him.

He began to fear the worst, that perhaps her vision HAD been of something attacking her, that HE had attacked her. It only barely made sense to him though. The Athena he knew would have fought back, if ever he did attack her, she would push her feelings for him aside and attack him right back, she may not kill him if she could knock him out, but she WOULD fight him. But, if the visions were truly as jarring as his had been, he couldn't be sure that, in her vision, she would have fought against him.

If he had been the one to hurt her, even in a vision, he would kill Wanda when he saw her next for doing this to Athena, for shaking her so badly.

"We're here," Barton called, lowering the jet to land just outside of what appeared to be a large farmhouse.

Thor looked at Athena, the girl not even moving as the others rose to head for the exit when the jet was settled down. He reached out, placing a hand on her cold ones, "Athena…"

She jerked, blinking and looking up at him, then past him to see the others were heading out, and gave the briefest jerk of the head, standing as well, though Thor noticed how shaky she was as she did so. Whatever she saw was starting to physically affect her as well, she looked weaker than normal, paler, less balanced when she walked, as though she were lightheaded or about to be ill.

He let out a deep, concerned breath and walked after her, keeping sure to stay close to her incase the vision caught up to her and she collapsed. He was hoping it wouldn't be the case, not because he didn't want to have the opportunity to hold her in his arms, something he knew would help calm his own pained thoughts on his vision, but because she would be loathe to show that level of weakness around anyone, even her allies.

He paused, seeing the farmhouse more clearly, "What is this place?"

"The safe house?" Tony glanced at Barton.

"Let's hope," Barton muttered, leading them forward to the house, pushing the door open without even seeming to think it might be locked, "Honey, I'm home!" he called out.

A moment later a lovely, though rather pregnant, woman stepped around the corner from the kitchen, a smile on her face that grew from welcoming to nearly-tense and questioning when she saw the others there with him.

"Hi," Barton winced, moving to her side, "Company. Sorry didn't call ahead."

"Hey," the woman offered them by way of greeting, her tension morphing to genuine concern at his words. It must have been truly, very VERY bad for him to bring all the Avengers to the house.

Tony blinked as the woman turned to Barton and gave him a quick kiss, "This is an agent of some kind," he muttered to the group, having absolutely no idea what was going on.

"Gentleman," Barton cleared his throat, turning to the others, his arm wrapping around the woman's waist, "This is Laura."

"I know all your names," Laura spoke before they could offer introductions of their own, her hand resting on her stomach.

"Ooh," Barton stemmed off any of the questioning he knew was coming when he heard racing, stomping footsteps behind him, "Incoming."

Just then two children, a boy and a younger girl, ran into the room, heading right for Barton, "Dad!" the girl cheered, leaping into Barton's arms.

"I see her!" Barton laughed, kissing the top of her head, before opening his other arm to the boy, his son, to hug as well, "Hey, buddy! How you guys doing? Ooh..."

"These are...smaller agents?" Thor inquired as the rest of them looked on in surprise, clearly none of them…save Natasha who was watching with a smile…seemed to know Barton was married let alone had children. He glanced at Athena though, but she was standing there, silent as ever, her arms crossed, seeming even worse off now that children were there. She had her eyes squeezed closed, her head bowed, her hands gripping her arms so hard that he knew she would end up with bruises.

He frowned at the sight of her, clearly being in this house was not going to be safe for her, it was making her worse.

He didn't even notice the quiet discussion going on behind him, how the children were asking for their 'Auntie Nat' and how Natasha answered the call, stepping forward to hug them. He didn't care to get an explanation from Barton about how all this was possible, how none of them knew about it, nor how Fury had set it up to keep Barton's family safe in order to get him to join. He hardly heard Natasha making small talk with Laura about her latest child, instead moving subtly over to Athena, who was standing near the back of the group, reaching out to put a hand on her arm, needing her to snap out of this, to look at him, to offer him something, some clue as to what he could do to make this better.

He had been affected by the visions as well, but nowhere near as badly as they were affecting her.

Athena let out a quiet gasp at his touch and looked up at him, her eyes locking with his for the first time since he'd snapped her out of her vision the first time and he nearly gasped in return at the sheer pain, turmoil, and fear in her eyes. She swallowed hard, seeming to see the question in his eyes for what he could do to help, and glanced over at Barton, his family, at the other Avengers, and back to him, shaking her head.

He nodded at that, understanding, she couldn't be here, she couldn't stay there, not surrounded by the others. For whatever reason, being around them was making her worse, causing the visions to have more an impact than they should have, leaving her in a less secure state to fight them off. She needed to get out of there, she needed to be away from them, and she needed to leave NOW.

He slid his hand from her arm to the small of her back, gently turning her to lead her away, out of the house, not caring if it seemed rude to the others that they were just walking out without a word. Athena would always come first. The others were handling their visions well enough for the moment, would be able to help each other, but they would not be able to help Athena, that was clear to him. The only thing that would come close to helping would be to get her far away from the team and the humans, somewhere where it was the two of them.

She would tell him, he knew, what her vision was of, if it was just the two of them, where no one could overhear and use it against her, or listen in and look at her differently. She knew he wouldn't, she knew he'd listen to her and not judge her, she trusted him and he would see to it that her trust was justified.

"Thor," he barely paused to look back when Steve followed them out, "Athena?"

Athena kept her back to Steve, tensing under Thor's hand, not wanting the man to truly see how this was affecting her, so Thor spoke instead, "I saw something in that dream," he said instead, taking the focus onto himself, throwing Steve off so he wouldn't ask about Athena but more assume she was going to help him instead of the reverse, "We need answers, we won't find them here."

Thor wrapped an arm around Athena, taking relief in the fact that she wound her arms around his neck, more contact than she'd allowed in what felt like forever, to lift his hammer above his head and take off into the sky, his mind racing with a place that they could go to be alone.

They were abandoning the team, yes, but they would be of no use to anyone if they couldn't sort Athena out first. If she was distracted during their next confrontation with Ultron, HE would be distracted with worry for her, this had to be done…and when he felt the slightest of wetness on his neck, tears from Athena though she wasn't openly crying, he knew he was _right_ to do this.

A/N: Poor Athena :'( For as good and humble and wise as she tries to be, there's always going to be a part of her, deep down, that's bitter about needing to be that way, that resents it, that wants to be the all-powerful goddess she used to be. But she fights against it, because she knows what that could lead to and has led to and now she's been forced to see just what that 'could' was :'( I can say though, that the way she's reacting, goes much deeper than just what she saw in the vision, but how it happened and who attacked her, we'll see why it's significant to her in the next chapter though ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Lol, I've been using the actress to help people picture the OC in place of a detailed description and in the cover for stories since I started a few years ago ;) Though I do still think I need to work on my descriptions though, when I eventually get into writing my own original work, I can't really say 'Oh picture Natalie Portman' when I describe them to readers in that case. It's a tricky road with descriptions lol :)

I agree, it was a terrible end to that story and, when I first was able to discuss it in a Latin class, we spent the entire session going back and forth with people who actually were defending that what happened to Medusa was right and people like me, that were furious that something like that happened :'( I actually have an original novel planned that revolves around Medusa and the myth which I hope to write this year. Lucifer does sound interesting though, I'll definitely need to find time to watch it :)

It was ironic, including the Medusa myth in the last chapter, because as I was writing the summary of it from Athena's POV, I realized that Athena not only created Medusa-the-Monster but DID also help with Medusa's murder as well. It's like I knew the two myths separately and I knew, in some sense, that Athena was involved with the hunt for Medusa, but writing it out I got the full impact that Athena really did ruin that girl's life and, here, I think that would be something that would haunt her and she'd regret for the rest of her life, that it would be something she'd try to keep Thor from doing as well to save him from that burden :(


	6. Weakness and Strength

Weakness and Strength

Athena let out a breath of relief when Thor set them down in the middle of what appeared to be a thick forest. She knew Thor had an affinity with heights, they had often enjoyed the view of Asgard from above, but right now that was the last thing she wanted, to be looking down on the Earth. She needed to be grounded right now, she needed to be away from people, which Thor had done. She didn't know how he'd known or if it was just a lucky guess, but whatever it was, she was grateful for it.

Thor, to his credit, remained silent as Athena let go of him and took a few steps away, her hands resting on her hips as she breathed deeply, seeming to try and gather herself now that she was away from the others. It was worrying him, though, that she wasn't looking at him, that her back was to him. She did that when she didn't want him to see her face. She could control her voice if she had to, keep it flat and even, but he knew how to read her eyes well enough to be able to tell what she was really thinking and feeling. There was even more to that, sometimes she turned her back so that he wouldn't see the emotions playing across it. Sometimes the emotions were so raw and powerful that she would look away or hide her face so that no one could see how something had affected her.

He wasn't sure which instance this was, but both were equally worrying. If it was the first, then, undoubtedly, she was going to attempt lying to him. If it was the second, then she was feeling something she wanted no one to see, even him.

The fact that she hadn't asked him to go, or tried to run away from him, gave him hope that, eventually, she would let him see.

It was a testament to how concerned he was that he remained quiet as the minutes stretched on, giving Athena time to work out herself first, to put herself together enough to speak to him, merely watching her pace back and forth.

Athena suddenly paused in her strides, making Thor's attention home in on her even more, before she seemed to let out a shuddering breath, "You should go."

He blinked at that, frowning deeply, "You need me," he stated, "There is nowhere else I could go."

Athena shook her head, "You could go anywhere else, you should be anywhere else but here," she told him, still with her back to him, "You should return to the others."

"And abandon you?" he scoffed, knowing that it was the first option then, she was trying to lie to him. But he could see it in her posture even if he couldn't read her face or look into her eyes. She was tense, her shoulders rigid, her fingers were digging into her sides, it looked as though it were taking her enormous effort to utter those words, "Never."

"I would have," Athena responded, her voice so quiet Thor almost missed it, "In the Dark Days, I would have abandoned you without a thought or care, no matter what I felt for you," she winced at that, shaking her head, "No, that isn't true…in the Dark Days I wouldn't have felt anything for you to begin with. All that will happen if you stay with me will be pain and ruin for you, it always ends that way..."

"Athena," he stepped towards her cautiously, only taking two steps, not wanting to cause her more strife, "Why are you speaking of this?" he asked, "The Dark Days are in the past," he reminded her, that was what she and her family called their time on Earth, the events that occurred then. He hadn't asked her why or even what the Dark Days were, it had more been something he had gleamed himself through hearing her other family members speak of it.

"Are they?" her voice cracked.

And that was all Thor could bear to hear before he was moving right behind her, alarming her or not be damned, not when she was in such pain. He reached out, gently, but firmly, grabbing her elbow and turning her to face him. His heart clenched in his chest when he saw the tears in her eyes, the haunted quality to them.

"I'm still her," she continued, "She's still me. Who I was is who I still am, I just hide it better, ignore her more fiercely. But she'll always be there, she'll always be waiting, wanting me to give into temptation, to rule, to be worshiped. She won't ever leave me. And, one day, she'll cause me to harm everyone around me, even you…especially you," she shook her head, looking at him so frantically that he feared the vision she'd seen had pushed her too far, "You should stay as far away from me as possible."

He reached out, being sure to be as tender as possible when he placed his free hand on her other arm, Mjolnir falling to his feet, "I will never leave you," he spoke softly to her, reassuringly, "To stay away from you would kill me, Athena. You would do me no favors to force me from you."

Athena let out a breath at that, Thor lifting his right hand to touch her cheek, brushing a tear that had fallen from her eye at his words away with the pad of his thumb. He would have smiled at the sight, at the fact that she still, even now, DID trust him enough to allow her hurt to show around him, to know that he still had that privilege, had it not been for the fact that she was, in fact, crying because something was hurting her, tormenting her that much.

"This is because of the girl," he murmured, "Her vision has shaken you," Athena looked down at that, nodding minutely. He moved his hand from her cheek to her chin, gently lifting it so she looked at him again, "Tell me."

"I…I can't," Athena whispered, her voice so vulnerable Thor almost gave in and let her keep the vision to herself.

But he knew this was too important, he couldn't help her if he didn't know exactly what had shaken her so badly she thought herself the same woman she was during her Dark Days.

"I saw Asgard," he offered instead, giving her a show of trust, telling her of his own vision to make her comfortable enough to tell him hers, "I was there, in the middle of a party, but you weren't. I was searching for you when I saw a figure sneaking about and, thinking it an enemy, followed. I was confronted by Heimdall. He'd been blinded, enraged as he attacked me, calling me the cause for Asgard's ruin, that I was the reason they were all dead," he swallowed hard at that last word, "I failed them. I failed to be the king Asgard deserved, and my people suffered for it. I couldn't protect them, I couldn't help them…but I can help you," he moved his hand back to her cheek, stroking it lightly, "Please, Athena, tell me. Let me help you, let me in."

Athena sucked in a deep breath at that, "I…" she struggled to speak, "I was on Olympus," she began, speaking slowly, her hand coming up to rest on his wrist, gripping it more for a connection to him, a physical reminder that she was grounded through him, here, in the forest, instead of high above, "I was sitting on my father's throne as…as prisoners were paraded before me."

"Who were they?" he asked quietly, hearing a tremble in her voice at the word 'prisoners.'

"My family," she whimpered, "My friends. You," she pursed her lips tightly, inhaling through her nose to keep her tears at bay, "You were all enchained, injured, and terrified of ME. _I_ did it to you. I tried to call out to you, but you were so…so fearful of me," she shook her head, "You fled when I approached. And the humans…" she cut off.

He stepped closer to her, seeing and feeling her starting to shake and tremble, knowing she needed more comfort, more of a reminder about where she was and who she was with, "The humans…"

She closed her eyes, bowing her head, "They were suffering, in poverty and sickness, and yet they worshiped me, revered me, were devoted to me."

She could barely stomach being around the Avengers because of it. Not just knowing that she had enslaved them in the vision, had hurt them and betrayed them so deeply, all for power but...Barton, his wife and children. Just imagining them, in that vision, imagining what their lives would be like because of her. Seeing how happy and innocent they were, how full of life and independence, and recalling how the opposite was true in her vision. She couldn't bear to be around the children, not while that vision was playing out in her mind, not when she had seen what she could have done to them all. It was too much.

"It was merely a vision…" he tried to reassure her, moving to stroke her hair…

But her head shot up, a glare on her face, "It nearly happened!" she snapped at him, "And it's happening again!" she sounded so broken at that thought, "Not just the vision but the fighting," she closed her eyes tightly, "Pietro," she swallowed hard, "He is quick and angry, like Hermes and Ares, and Wanda...she is as gifted with manipulations and vision inducement as Hecate and Morpheus. They are just like my family and now they have attacked, they've aimed to hurt me. They HAVE hurt me. All over again, it's happening all over again..."

"Athena, it wasn't real," Thor insisted, fearing for her even more at her words.

He knew, he could guess that she had seen something of a similarity to the twins and her family. It was hard not to see Hermes in Pietro with how quick both men were, but he hadn't realized she'd also seen it in Wanda. Their attack, both when Pietro had hurt her in Sokovia and Wanda in the warehouse, had impacted her more than it should have, it had triggered this vision settling deeper in her mind than it should. For it WAS just like the Dark Days, he knew, where her family had turned on each other with a vengeance, attacking each other out of anger and hate and jealousy. To have two humans so like her family attack her...it would be hard for anyone to bear, it would cause her to think of days long since passed...

"You've no idea, Thor," she shook her head, opening her eyes to nearly glare at him, the effect lost in how watery her eyes were, "How close my family came to that which the vision showed me, to conquering everyone, to being worshiped to that degree. And it was ME, I was the one in power, I had done it…I'd succeeded in something I once…something I used to…"

She couldn't say it, she couldn't admit it, not out loud, she couldn't say the words that would make it all real. She had wanted it, she used to dream of that moment, of being the Queen of Olympus, the ruler of the earth, supreme goddess. She couldn't say it to Thor, not to him, not verbally, she just…she wanted so badly for that to be her past, to be a part of her she'd moved on from, something she would never have to think of again.

But it would always be there, always. That her, the one she used to be, was the reason she was as she was NOW. But she was not truly gone, she was still there, locked away, still a part of her. It would always be there, that part of her past, it would always haunt her, she would always be reminded of it, there was no forgetting the things she'd done.

"That was in the past," Thor spoke up, understanding what she was admitting even without her physically admitting it to him, she said enough in the guilt in her eyes, the shame radiating through her grey orbs, he would not dredge that up, he would not force her to say it if she wasn't ready, "That is who you _were_ , not who you ARE."

"And who am I?" she shook her head, and Thor realized…this was the heart of her strife.

The vision had made her question everything about herself, everything that HE knew with all certainty she was now doubting. She didn't feel like she was all that different from the woman she had been anymore. And, while he didn't know everything of her past, not wanting to push her, wanting to respect that it was a truly horrible time for her, he did know that the woman before him…was entirely different. He knew it in his heart, he saw it in her actions around others, in her smiles, in her wisdom.

Wisdom came from having suffered, he knew that, and for Athena to be the goddess of it, according to humans, she would have had to suffer enormously to get to where she was.

"You are Athena," he told her, cupping her face in both hands now, "My golden-haired Athene," he smiled gently at that, running a single finger through a strand of her long locks.

He had been exposed to some literature while on Earth, the myths about him and even those about Athena. Some described her as grey-eyed, dark-haired Athene, but to him, she was as golden haired as the sun (he was thankful Tony wasn't there or able to read his mind for that thought). It was another testament to how different she was, he knew it was why she really favored having yellow hair than brown. She had waved off his mention of it, when he'd discovered her true hair color, that she'd grown fond of it, but seeing her around her family, he realized it was how she reminded herself she was different now. It was a way to look in the mirror and not see the same woman she once was.

He hoped though, that she would not realize her hair had turned brown, that it had been so since the confrontation with Wanda in the warehouse.

He was careful as he hooked his finger around her hair that he kept it away from her eyesight, brushing it back over her shoulder as he spoke to her. If she saw her hair now, in her state of mind, it would not end well.

"You are my adviser," he continued, "The wisest of us all, the one I trust most in all the realms," he felt his heart start to beat faster as he saw Athena look up at him, listening to him and his words.

He knew that she needed to hear this, hear his view on her, his opinion, she needed someone she trusted and someone that knew her well as she was now to tell her, with all honesty, that she was NOT that woman any longer. She would not believe her family, they had been as bad as she had been, none of them would wish to think themselves returning to the people they were, they would lie even if they saw it happening, out of a fierce desire NOT to become that again nor wish to see others in their family heading down that path as well. She wouldn't trust the humans, not even Natasha, because they didn't KNOW, they knew the myths, they might guess why she was uncomfortable if others were brought up, but they didn't know, not like he did. Even if he didn't know all of it, he knew enough to understand who she had been compared to who she was now.

"You are one of the finest warriors on Asgard, of the women, of course," he smirked at that, lightly teasing her.

He knew her prowess in battle was exceptional. But Olympians had a different style of fighting than Asgardians did, she had adapted well to their techniques, but it had been a struggle for her when her training had truly begun. She was a truly formidable opponent on the battle field, strong, quick, determined. She and Sif were the two top female warriors among their soldiers, both women better than many men, and it was how they fought, who they fought for, how they defended the innocent and protected the realm that mattered. Athena used her sword, armor, and skill as a means for doing good for the kingdom, keeping people safe and thwarting enemies.

"You are my love," he added, gently taking her hand off his wrist to place it over his heart, "You are the only one to hold my heart, and you are the only one I can see as being my equal, to rule beside me as Queen of Asgard."

He could see her shift at his last words though, the reminder of the power she would have if she did become Queen of Asgard unsettling her again. It was different, in his mind, to offer her this power. It was a show of trust on his part, that he knew with such assuredness that she would handle it well, that she wouldn't become corrupt or tempted by it. And it wouldn't be like what she feared from the vision, that she would have conquered and ruled through fear and aggression, but that she would ascend the throne with him, at his side, sharing the power. She would be beloved, would rule with wisdom and compassion, he knew she would. Just as her hair was a reminder of who she was now, her new title would be too. It wouldn't be for many years, and even when she did ascend the throne with him, his mother would still be there to guide her.

She had SAVED the current Queen of Asgard's life, that was not the act of someone that coveted power. Had she been as she once was, she would have let Frigga die when she realized the Dark Elves' plot, but she didn't. She went to rescue the queen and nearly died as a result.

"You fear being worshiped again," he let go of her hair, moving his hand to her cheek once more, "You fear being revered and having others devoted to you…but you fail to realize…you already are."

Athena gave him a truly confused look at his words.

He let out a light chuckle at her look, " _I_ worship you," he admitted, not entirely comfortable with speaking of his deepest feelings for her so openly, so bluntly, but she needed this, needed this reassurance, and if it would help her, he would say everything in his heart to do so, "I would worship you in every way imaginable, and I plan to, when the time is right," the grin on his face nearly had her blushing as the innuendo broke through her turbulent feelings, "I revere you, anyone who has endured what you have, who has fought to be better than they were, and has done as much as you have for others deserves every ounce of respect and admiration. And I am devoted to you," he finished, "I am yours as you are mine. I commit myself to you, pledge my heart and my troth to you, and I would not have it any other way."

He felt himself smile when, before his eyes, Athena's hair began to lighten, turning its familiar golden-blonde once more, and he knew…his words had gotten through to her.

He could feel her, beneath his hand, relaxing, coming back to him from the pain of the vision.

"I love you, Athena," he reminded her, "And I know you. I would not lie to you, so believe me when I say…you are NOT her any longer."

Athena swallowed hard at that, but gave the smallest of nods, "She caused ME to be," she murmured, more to herself than Thor, "But she is not me now."

"Aye," he nodded, tugging her forward to pull her into his arms, holding her tightly in his embrace.

"If she ever does…"

"She won't," he insisted.

But Athena pulled away, looking at him seriously, "IF she does become me, one day," she fixed her gaze with his, "You must swear to me, Thor, on Mjolnir, that you will end me before I can harm anyone."

"It will never happen," he repeated.

"Swear to me," she clutched the front of his armor, the cloth parts, "I need you to."

He let out a deep breath, giving just the briefest nod, "Aye," he promised, "I will."

He had no intention of keeping that promise, whether he lost his worthiness to Mjolnir or Asgard as a result, he would never kill Athena. He would sooner save her first, bring her back from the darkness, return her to the woman he knew she truly was. He did not ever think it would be an issue though, the Athena he knew as too strong to succumb to those temptations again, no matter how strong they might be, she would fight. Even now, when she feared she might be slipping back into who she was, she had tried to protect him, tried to get him away from her. No, he had no fear of Athena ever returning to that version of herself, so his promise would never have to be tested anyway. But if it would reassure her, if it would mean giving her the last bit of peace of mind that she required to feel herself once more, he would do it.

She nodded at that, giving him a small smile, "Thank you."

"I would do anything for you, Athena," he reminded her.

"As I would you," she nodded, smiling more now, "Thor," she reached up to touch his cheek this time, "You would never fail Asgard," Thor blinked at that, almost having forgotten he had told her his vision as well, he'd been so focused on helping her he hadn't even thought of the reverse, but that was Athena, she would never allow him to feel like that now, not after he too had worked so hard to become the man he was, "You have worked too hard, pushed yourself too much, to ever fail her. The only way anyone would be slain, would be after you had fallen protecting them and slaughtering as many enemies as possible. And even then, you would not leave them unprotected. Nor would I leave you unprotected," she stroked his bearded cheek, "I shall protect your back, while you protect mine, and no enemy shall fell us so long as we are together. Asgard shall stand ever strong, with you as her king..."

"And you as her Queen," he cut in, not about to let her out of that.

"Aye," she whispered, not fully comfortable with thinking of that at the moment, but feeling surer that she would get there, "The two of us, together, we shall ensure Asgard never fall and that all her people are protected."

"As shall our children continue that legacy," he smirked more at that, teasing her just slightly. He knew she was called the 'Virgin Goddess' on Earth, knew that she hadn't taken much interest in anyone else before him and the notion of what came in a relationship that was progressing as theirs was sometimes made her blush the fairest red...as she was right now...and he loved to tease her with small remarks about what they would one day share.

"Perhaps" she agreed, making his eye widen in surprise that she was even considering that given her hesitation speaking of the act that would create said children.

"Then I know," he murmured, "That Asgard truly shall be protected evermore," he smiled at her for her words, for her promise, leaning down to kiss her, winding his arms around her once more, deepening the kiss as he poured all his relief, love, and certainty into it, needing her to feel how much he believed in her, needing her to believe in herself that much once more.

~8~

Athena shifted as she stood beside Thor, tugging at the clothing she was wearing. It had been an outfit Natasha had purchased for her when she and Thor realized they would be on Earth longer than planned in trying to recover the scepter from wherever it had been taken. Tony had insisted that, if the gods were on earth, they would have to 'play mortal' and look the part, blend in, instead of stick out like a sore thumb and attract unwanted attention from their enemies. So he had taken them shopping.

Well, he had intended to shop with Thor…but then been cornered by Steve, Banner, and Barton, all of the men going instead. All of them had claimed the other had poor tastes and would make Thor look foolish. Through their collected efforts, Thor had come out with fairly decent 'modern' clothing, perfectly suited for a mortal being, even if his hair was slightly longer than the norm. She had gotten off easier, Natasha had volunteered to go with her, insisting it be just the two of them, though Pepper (really, such a lovely woman), had managed to worm her way into going as well. She liked to think her clothing blended in a little more than Thor's did, as people tended to look at him oddly when they saw him dressed in modern clothing. However, she wasn't entirely sure, quite a few men seemed to turn to look at her as well as a few women. According to Pepper, her clothing was called jeans, boots, and plaid, it reminded her of what she'd worn when Selvig had gotten her and Thor out of Coulson's holding. Actually, it reminded her exactly of it, it felt rather tight and uncomfortable to move in…

The outfits really WEREN'T helping them blend in at all…and perhaps that was the fun to be had for Tony and Natasha, to see what they could get the almighty gods to agree to wear…

"Erik!" Thor called, actually making her jump she was so lost in thoughts and trying to make her outfit agree with her more, that she hadn't noticed Erik Selvig, now recuperated from Loki's mind control, exiting the University of London where they were waiting.

Selvig chuckled as he spotted them, giving them both a quick glance over as he approached, "I like the look. If you're going for inconspicuous, though, near miss."

"I knew it," Athena muttered, earning a small chuckle from Thor before the man turned back to Selvig.

"We need your help," he stated.

"With what?" Selvig gave him a suspicious look.

Athena shook her head, "We can't say here," she warned him, "But…it will be very dangerous."

Selvig cracked a smile at that, "I'd be disappointed if it wasn't," he turned, nodding for them to follow, "Come with me to my office, we can talk there, SHIELD made sure of it," and indeed they had, it was one of the few things that had helped him feel more secure and protected, enough to work on getting back to where and who he had been, a safe space, one where he knew no one could enter but him, where no one could observe him or bug him or track him, just…somewhere he could be alone.

It would be the only place he trusted for the two to speak of what they needed without fear of someone else catching wind.

~8~

Athena let out a breath as she stepped deep into a cave with Thor and Selvig on either side of her, "I didn't believe it still existed here," she murmured, staring at a good sized pool of water glistening in the darkness of the cave.

She and Thor had discussed his vision more after she had regained her senses, loathe as she was to admit it had taken her so long to recover from Wanda's vision, but she had sensed something else in what Thor described to her. He had left some detail out, some suspicion, in order to focus on her, and it was bothering him, lingering in the back of his mind. She could tell, and so she had tried to help him decipher it.

He felt like there was something else in the vision that he needed to see, but he didn't know what it was. He had been too focused on Heimdall's attack, in blocking it while not hurting the man, that he couldn't see what was just out of reach. So they'd devised a way to revisit the vision, without tracking down the Twins and antagonizing Wanda, but it required Selvig's help.

They had heard, after they'd departed last, that once Selvig had recovered, he had become something of an expert at Norse legend, an aftereffect of his time with Loki and the mind control he'd endured. It had let him see more than just the truth about the Tesseract, but about Loki himself, about the magic of the Nine Realms and the artifacts they held. If there was anyone on Earth that might know where the Water of Sight might be on Earth, for continents and lands had changed over time, it would be Selvig, and it seemed they were right to go to him, for there they were, standing before the very pools.

"This is it," Selvig nodded, "The Water of Sight."

"In every realm, there's a reflection," Thor murmured, "If the water spirits accept me, I can return to my dream, and find what I missed."

Selvig frowned at that, "The men who enter that water…the legends don't end well."

"None of them were Thor," Athena mused, smiling just a little as Thor threw his jacket onto a rock and pulled his shirt off, making her laugh under her breath.

Thor turned around, backing into the water but eyeing her oddly, "Find something amusing?"

"No," she shook her head, a teasing grin on her face, "I was just recalling something Natasha said once…"

"Which was?"

Athena couldn't help the way the grin spread to a smirk, "She may have mentioned that seeing Steven without his shirt on was an aweing and reverential moment," she tilted her head to the side, observing him from the top of his head to his waist, now under the water, considering him, "I was just thinking…she has clearly never seen YOU without a shirt before."

Thor grinned smugly at that, happy to see some of her strength returning to her, giving her a playful wink before he turned around to focus on the task at hand, taking a large breath and diving into the water…

Immediately he was back on Asgard, Heimdall before him, lunging at him while crying, "Wake up!"

He gasped, feeling as though the electricity of Mjolnir were flowing through him, shocking him terribly, but he held on, he pushed through it, needing to see what else there was…

And suddenly, it was Ultron.

His mind filled with visions of the robot, echoing with the word 'Extinction' in Ultron's deep voice, before the vision shifted…and he could see the scepter, the gem in it, flying through space, breaking apart and reforming, becoming trapped and escaping...till a small round object broke apart, revealing a set of four gems hovering in space…

Gems that, he knew, were infinitely important to Asgard.

He gasped as he broke through the surface of the water, spinning around to look at Athena, a serious and grim expression on his face.

"We must return."

A/N: I felt so bad for Athena in the aftermath of the vision :( It really shook her up, not just the vision itself but having two people that remind her of her family attack and cause it, and then be confronted and surrounded by the people she'd hurt in her vision, and Barton's children reminding her what she'd done to the humans... :'(

But I really wanted Thor to be there for her, to remind her that it wasn't real and that she's different now than she was, just like he is and that he still loves her regardless :')

Some notes on reviews...

It disturbed me too to hear people actually defending it :'( It reminds me of how people still use the argument, even today, that 'boys will be boys' as an excuse and focusing on what a girl was wearing or doing or drinking instead of actually putting blame on rapists for doing something that horrifying :'(

I'm very sorry about your mother :'( But I fully understand and I know Athena would too. Things hit us at different stages and in different ways :'(

I'm glad you're enjoying the story and Athena so far :) I have a Steve/OC planned, and a Bucky/OC planned so we'll see more MCU for them to come, possibly a Hawkeye/OC (not sure about that one yet), and we'll also have my Loki/OC being updated whenever the next Loki movie comes out :)


	7. A New Hope

A New Hope

Athena and Thor stood in the forest once more, having bid farewell and thanks to Selvig for his help but needing to discuss the vision Thor had had first before they made any decisions. Thor had been willing, eager almost, to return to the others and act first. But Athena had refused to budge unless he explained to her his vision and why he wished to take such action. At any other time he might have grown frustrated by how she was wasting their essential time instead of trusting him, but to see her take a stand against him, it was just a reminder that she had overcome Wanda's vision and was returning to herself once more.

He wouldn't fault her her concern either. As they had been leaving, more like him stalking out of the cave with Athena and Selvig rushing to catch up to him, he may have expressed that the reason they needed to return was to help Tony bring yet another robotic creature to life.

Athena had put her foot down at that, refused to go with him, knowing he wouldn't leave her after her brief (and rather embarrassing) meltdown earlier. She had brought reason to him in her words and concerns about his decision. They had already seen one robotic creation of Tony's come to life…and now it had the desire to end the world, was willing to launch the worst attacks imaginable to get his enemies out of the way. What, in any realm, would possess him to think it wise to bring ANOTHER robot to life, especially one Tony was working on, one that, according to Thor, had been originally designed and created by Ultron himself?

He could see that, perhaps, he really SHOULD think about this before helping bring another potential enemy to life. And, as he thought about it, there truly wasn't anything, at all, that said that the robot wouldn't turn out as bad as, or even worse than, Ultron. Because the robot he had glimpsed at the very end of his vision, just before he broke through the waters, would be imbued with a truly powerful gem that Ultron had yet to assimilate with entirely. It would be much more powerful than Ultron, and potentially much more dangerous as a result. He had no way to know what the robot would think or feel.

Hadn't Ultron originally been intended to protect and guard the earth?

What was there that made him so sure that this new robot wouldn't end up exactly like Ultron besides mere hope?

Thor let out a deep breath as he looked over at Athena, the woman appearing to be deep in thought, considering all he'd told her of what he saw. It had been disjointed and confusing and it hadn't been till he'd tried to vocalize what he'd actually seen, what he felt he knew, to Athena that he realized how rash he'd been, how he had nearly leapt into this without thought or pause for concern of what his actions could do. It had been…quite a long time since something like that had happened but he did slip into rash thoughts from time to time. Thankfully Athena had rarely left his side since he had first been banished to Earth and was there to help stop him, help him consider what possible consequences might come from his actions.

"What say you?" he asked her, knowing that time truly was of the essence.

He could feel it in his bones, the vision of the second robot would come to pass soon. If they were going to assist, they needed to be there to help. If they were going to ensure that it never came to be, then they would need to make haste and get there in time. As much as he wished to leave her to her thoughts and considerations, they couldn't afford it.

"It is…a very large gamble," she murmured, her face scrunched in thought, the sight making Thor smile slightly to see, "If you are wrong in your hopes, it puts the entire planet at risk. And, if indeed the metal man would contain the Mind Stone…" she shook her head, "It puts far more than Earth in jeopardy but all the realms."

Thor let out a breath, nodding solemnly, "It would be wise to end this threat before it begins."

"No," Athena looked up at him, pulling herself from her thoughts entirely, "It would be far wiser to give this creation a chance to prove itself before destroying it for something it had no choice in, to condemn it for something it has yet to do."

She had learned that the hard way, what it meant to condemn another living soul before hearing their side of the story. She would not make that mistake again.

Thor blinked at that, "You believe we should assist, despite the risks?"

"We know that a…being is going to come into existence," she hesitated, not entirely sure what she believed or thought of all this, "We know it will possess the Mind Stone, and we know how it will come to be. We shall be there, if all goes wrong, we will have an advantage to end this threat once it makes its choice, should it be against the earth and the lives upon it."

"Aye," he began to grin now, smug in her belief that they would be enough to end the threat, and also quite pleased that she was agreeing to his plan in the end, "There is no enemy in all the realms that could last against us."

Athena shook her head, amused at his words, but continued, "This being was made by Ultron, but was taken by Tony, yes?" Thor nodded in confirmation, "Then there is hope that Tony has learned from his mistakes with Ultron and shall endeavor to avoid creating a second one or one worse. No," she agreed, "It would not do to end such a unique life before it has even done something to deserve it," she smiled a bit, "For all we know, it may wish to join our side and become an enormous asset to us against Ultron."

Thor nodded, agreeing with her ascertation of the situation. If Tony succeeded, if he improved from his last failure, this new being would be a truly important asset and ally to them. It might likely be the only thing that could go head to head with Ultron, robot against robot.

But in order to do that, in order to survive or be ended should its true intentions be foul, they needed to be there.

Thor held out a hand to her, Athena not even hesitating to take it as she stepped closer, winding her arm around his neck as he held Mjolnir above his head, stealing a quick kiss from her before they took off into the sky.

~8~

Athena was not sure if she was relieved or disheartened to find, when she and Thor managed to track down the other Avengers along with Tony and his newest robotic endeavor, the situation was one she both expected and hoped not to find…though she would admit she was surprised to see the Maximoff Twins were among the Avengers engaged in trying to thwart Tony's plans and no one else was bothering to fight them away. Something had clearly happened that had resulted in the twins joining their side, if for the moment. She would not turn her back on them just yet, not trusting them enough to be sure their reasons were pure and not a double-crossing plan.

She and Thor had made it to where Tony was working on the robot with Banner to find that Barton, Steve, and the twins were all trying to stop him. Natasha didn't appear to be around, which did worry Athena a great deal, but the matter at hand required her full attention. It was chaos in the lab as Avenger fought Avenger, trying to take Tony and his equipment out.

Steve was locked in combat with Tony, donning only a partially formed Ironman suit, while Barton kept Pietro busy, and Banner attempted to hold Wanda back.

The lab was in flames, sparks going off, warnings beeping out that the power was getting too low to complete Tony's new experiment, someone had clearly destroyed the equipment before Tony or Banner could stop them, and it was putting them all in danger. At this point, Thor and Athena knew, if they didn't activate the Mind Stone in that robot Tony was trying to bring to life, the backfeed into it would cause it to explode, taking all of them out with it.

The time had come, whether they had arrived to stop the experiment or to help it along, it didn't matter now, their hands were tied and the choice was made for them. They would need to bring the power back, bring the robot to life, if they wanted to live. Not that they were going to stop the experiment in the first place.

Thor looked over at Athena, the two of them silently communicating a plan as she nodded, understanding what needed to happen next. Of the two of them, Thor had power over lightning, he could command it, create it, collect it and aim it wherever he wished. If he could get close enough to the casket-like device surrounding the robot, he would be able to infuse it with lightning from Mjolnir itself, supplying all the power they would need. But if he did that, he would be exposed and vulnerable while directing the lightning, and with how Steve, Wanda, and Pietro were reacting, they wouldn't hesitate to attack his back if it were unguarded. So she would protect it, cover him while he worked, keep him safe so he could accomplish his task.

Immediately Thor leapt into the fray, jumping high to land on the edge of the casket-like container, lifting his hammer high above his head to gather lightning, the others pausing in their own battles, surprised at his sudden appearance and unsure if he was there to help and who he was helping…till he directed the lightning at the casket, powering it instead of blasting it.

Athena held up her shield, her sword in hand as she positioned herself right behind him, her eyes trained on the three she knew were more likely to attack, the twins and Steve, her face set in a determined expression, her eyes narrowed, almost daring them to try to attack Thor, just TRY it…

A moment later she could feel the electricity in the air dying away, the flickering light behind her dimming as Thor ceased the stream of energy, waiting on baited breath to see if he'd been too late…

When a sudden blast sent him flying back, off the casket, crashing into Athena's back as he went, sending them both toppling to the ground though he took care to roll so that he would earn the brunt of the fall and that she would land on top of him, cushioned from harm. They looked over to see someone spring out of the casket, red-skinned, with metal running along its back, arms, legs, and head, squatting down and panting. They were on their feet immediately, waiting to see what this being would do next, knowing its next actions would determine whose side it was really on.

Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir, taking a single step forward, not to protect Athena, no, she could protect herself. It had nothing to do with that and everything to do with him wanting to be able to deal the first blow should it come to that…that was it completely.

Athena, however, seemed to realize exactly why he'd done that and rolled her eyes.

The red-skinned man opened his eyes, rather human looking eyes, to take in his surroundings, his gaze landing on Thor and Athena first.

Athena frowned, nearly loosening her grip on her sword, seeing his eyes flicker to the weapons first, understanding that he would see them as a threat and that was not a way to get an unbiased feel from the creature, to have it think they were coming to destroy it first. She had just started to lower her sword when the being flew at them, attacking more, she knew, from a sense of self-defense than a desire to harm.

Thor reacted quickly, grabbing the being as it flew at them and hurling it onwards, using its momentum to send it through a wall of glass, seeming as though he had put enough power behind the throw to send the being straight out the wall of Stark Tower…had the being not stopped just before it, hovering in midair and just…staring out at the city before it.

It didn't move, it didn't break out and go on a rampage…it just looked. Not only at the city and the lights but at its own reflection as well.

Athena almost smiled at it, seeing its look turn thoughtful…when she caught sight of Steve approaching from behind her in the reflection of the glass. She turned, her sword and shield up once more to stop them if necessary, Thor raising a hand to them as well, signaling to wait, to watch, even going so far as to set his hammer down on the corner of the stairs behind him in a show of faith, that he didn't believe the robot would attack again, that he was trusting it enough to go unarmed, and so they did as the being slowly turned around and began to float back to them, seeming a little confused, but far calmer than it had been. It's body was even starting to clothe itself, a grey spreading along its chest and limbs, covering it in what appeared to be modesty.

Which was a startling thing to think a robot created by a psychotic artificial intelligence program built by the least modest man in the world could have.

The surprises didn't end there though.

The being lowered itself to the ground, glancing at the others, before uttering the two words they never expected, "I'm sorry," it stated, blinking, frowning in thought as though trying to find words, "That was…odd," it supplied, eyeing them once more before looking to Thor and Athena, glancing at Thor's cloak before replicating it himself, causing a cloak and shoulder clasps to grow from his body, the cape draping down behind him, "Thank you."

"You two," Steve called, frowning at the gods as they cast a glance to him as well, "You helped create this?"

"Thor had a vision," Athena stated, "And from that, we learned what would happen here, what was needed of us to see it happen."

"Aye," Thor nodded, "I saw a whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that…" he pointed at the being, at a small gem lodged in its forehead.

"What, the gem?" Banner frowned, shaking his head, not sure what a small piece of glass or crystal could have to do with all this and wondering if Thor had ingested too much ale again...

"It's called the Mind Stone," Athena explained, "I've read about them," and she had, in the vast resources that was Asgard's library, she had read about many of the artifacts thought long since lost. It was a rather repetitive habit in her family, aiding in the quests heroes would take part in to recover objects lost long ago. It had always been an exciting adventure for her when she was able to assist, and so she had thought to see what remnants of Asgard might be thought lost to time, "It's said to be one of the six Infinity Stones."

"The greatest power in the universe," Thor spoke solemnly, "Unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

Steve seemed completely flabbergasted by that knowledge, even more so by THEM for allowing this vision to play out instead of preventing it, "Then _why_ would you bring it to..."

"Because Stark is right," Thor cut in.

Banner let out a low whistle at that, "Oh, it's definitely the end times."

Athena couldn't help the small smile that came to her face for the remark. The day that Tony and Thor agreed on something truly did seem like it would be the end of the world as they knew it. The men could not seem to agree on anything, nor did they ever think the other was right. And for someone like Thor to admit something of the sort…it was twice as 'worrying.'

"It very well could be," she had to add, "We cannot defeat Ultron, none of us," she looked around at them, "No human."

"You're gods," Steve argued.

"As good as, by your terms, yes," Athena agreed, "But even we cannot defeat Ultron," the robot had come about because of the Mind Stone, only something that possessed it would be able to vanquish Ultron as a result, and, without having access to Asgardian tomes and information, she couldn't be certain that she or Thor would be able to use the Stone without injury, they were truly powerful.

"Not alone," the being murmured, sounding more like it was stating an encouraging fact, that Ultron COULD be defeated, but through teamwork, through every single one of them coming together to work towards that end.

Steve eyed the being oddly before calling a question to Tony, not taking his eyes off the red-robot though, "Why does your 'vision' sound like Jarvis?"

Tony stepped forward, moving to stand before the robot, "We...we reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new."

Steve groaned at that, "I think I've had my fill of new."

The being, Vision, as it seemed he was being called, frowned at that, at the assumption he could almost read on everyone's faces, all but Thor and Athena's, "You think I'm a child of Ultron."

"You're not?" Steve scoffed.

"You have not given him a chance to show what he is," Athena pointed out, "To assume is never a wise move. How are we better than Ultron if we, before even allowing him," she gestured at Vision, "A chance to prove what he is or is not, see him as the enemy? He has existed all of five minutes, and has yet to truly attack. I doubt Ultron existed that long before he waged war against us."

Vision shook his head, "I'm not Ultron. I'm not Jarvis," his face scrunched in thought, truly struggling to find the words, "I am...I am..."

"I looked in your head and saw annihilation," Wanda stepped forward, her brother moving with her, his gaze trained on Vision as well, guarding his sister should the robot attack.

"Look again," Vision offered diplomatically.

Barton snorted, "Yeah, her seal of approval means jack to me."

Athena shook her head at that, it wasn't about Wanda's seal of approval. It wasn't even needed. Could they not see? Were they really that prejudiced that they couldn't realize that the being before them truly wasn't Ultron? Just in its last words, with just TWO words, he proved to her that she and Thor had been right to allow it the chance to live. Wanda had looked in its head and saw destruction, fine, that was clearly before…now though, NOW…it was telling her that if she looked once more she would certainly NOT see the same thing.

If annihilation wasn't a part of his thoughts any longer, then he was already a step above Ultron, already a step closer to being an ally.

On top of that, he was offering to let her into his mind. He was willing to be open and honest, to show her that he was being truthful. Someone with a nefarious plot, someone that meant harm, would never do that. It wanted to be believed, it wanted to prove itself trustworthy, and it was trying to.

"Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself," Thor spoke up, pulling her from her thoughts, "They all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash."

"But if that power were harnessed, brought to our side…" Athena agreed.

But Steve cut her off, "Is it?" he asked them, crossing his arms as he turned to Vision, "Are you? On our side?"

Vision hesitated only a moment, thinking on his answer, before replying, "I don't think it's that simple."

Athena was impressed with the answer. Because it was true and it was a wise response even. It truly never was that simple. It depended on the side, on their intentions, on the situation. Vision might be on their side now, as they battled Ultron, but if something came up in the future that he didn't agree with, or that he felt was wrong, he wouldn't be on their side any longer. There were always layers to a situation and the people involved in it. There was always something going on that you questioned, something that you were unsure of, an action you just couldn't bring yourself to take part in.

To someone like Steve, it might be that simple. She doubted the man had ever experienced temptation or committed any serious or violent crime for no reason or not out of self-defense. To him, the world was black and white, but she knew, better than most, that there were scores of greys mixed in. To someone like Barton, if Natasha had been honest with Loki in telling him how she came to join the Avengers, then he too had changed his opinion and 'side' in the middle of a situation. He had gone against orders and, instead of killing Natasha, had managed to recruit her. It hadn't been simple then either.

Which was why she was surprised when Barton, of all people, demanded, "Well it better get real simple real soon."

She was tempted to bring up Natasha and the call he had made about her, but Vision spoke again before she could, "I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't, he will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked, seeming completely at ease now that at least one of his creations was truly on the side of life and not warping what that meant into something deadly to them all.

"You," Vision said simply.

Tony nodded slightly at that, as though he should have guessed it, when Barton stepped forward, "Where?"

"Sokovia," Barton called, "He's got Nat there too."

Athena frowned deeply, "Natasha was captured?"

"Yeah," Barton sighed, "We were attempting another mission, it didn't end well."

Athena looked at him, troubled, at his words, feeling guilt rise in her. She had been so torn apart by the vision that she had abandoned the team of humans that had aided her and Thor numerous times. She never should have let it get so bad. She should have realized much sooner what was happening to her, fought against it. There were those in her family that operated on dreams and visions, she should have had a stronger defense against it, should have been able to deal with it best of them all. But she had fallen apart, crumbled under what she'd seen. Had it not been for Thor getting her out of there when he did, she didn't want to think about what she might have done or said.

She had needed to get away, she knew it, in order to recover and rebuild enough to be an asset instead of a liability to the team, she had needed to get away and work through what she'd seen. But in doing so, she put the team at risk, she and Thor, in not being there to help them. And now Natasha had been captured by the enemy. If she had just been there...perhaps this wouldn't have happened.

She set her jaw in a determined line, she would see Natasha brought back, and hope the woman forgave her for her abandonment and the subsequent capture, but in order to do that, they had to get her back first, "I should have been there," she told the man, "We shall retrieve her, alive and well…and then release her upon her captors."

Barton managed to crack a smile at that, as concerned as he was for Natasha, he knew she was strong, she could handle herself…and she would likely kill the ones holding her when she was finally released, no doubt about that.

"Will I be joining you?" Vision inquired, referring to their now partial rescue operation.

The Avengers looked at each other for that, though Thor and Athena were nodding in their agreement that Vision should come with them. Banner seemed to be the one that spoke up, which made sense as he had failed to speak up the first time Tony and he attempted this, realizing that he was even more a part of this robot's creation as the other one, and it was now his partial responsibility to ensure that nothing like Ultron happened again.

"If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."

"What will you do?" Vision tilted his head, looking around at all of them, seeing their hardening expressions, the regret and guilt in Tony and Banner's eyes, the frown on Thor and Athena's, all of it telling him the exact answer. Whether they wished to or not, thought they would have to or not, they WOULD destroy him if he became like Ultron.

"You know what we would do," Athena answered.

Vision gave a sad nod, sighing as he admitted, "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But," he added, seeing Steve starting to shift and tense at that, "That pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now," he looked at them, "And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster," he glanced down at his hands, red already so he wouldn't even realize if blood eventually stained them, "I don't think I'd know if I were one."

"You're not," Athena stated, the firm tone in her voice leaving little for the others to question as they looked over at her, "I know monsters," she added, "I've created them, I've turned others into them, I was one, at one point," she swallowed hard, "A monster would not question if they were one. A monster would believe they were not. Only when you begin to believe that your worst crimes are justified, only when you cease to wonder if you've become one or might be one, do you truly become one. So trust me when I say, you are NOT a monster."

And he wasn't. Because she did know a thing or two about monsters. She had done all of that, she had reached a point where she had justified everything she'd done, all that her family ha, to the point where, one day, she didn't wonder if she was really a monster anymore, where she fully believed that she was within her right to do what she did. The fact that Vision was questioning it, that he was aware that there was always the possibility of becoming one, made her certain he wouldn't be one in the future. To be aware of the danger was to avoid it, to sound as hurt and fearful as he did at the mere notion of becoming one, meant that he would endeavor to prevent it.

"Thank you," Vision smiled at her for her kind and reassuring words, before he noticed that the others, the humans, seemed to need more reassuring, "I'm not what you are," he agreed, "And not what you intended," he turned around, spotting Thor's hammer resting on the corner of a set of stairs, an idea striking him, "So there may be no way to make you trust me," he turned around, holding up Mjolnir to Thor, "But we need to go."

He vaguely recalled something of Jarvis, the last lingering remnants of that consciousness before it fully fled Ultron's invading mind, security of Stark Towers, something about only those being worthy being able to pick up the hammer. He didn't know what 'worthy' meant, whether it meant worthy of ruling or a worthy person in general, someone that was honest and kind and good and true, whatever it was…being 'worthy' enough to lift the hammer might convince them that they had nothing to fear from him.

He honestly wasn't sure if he'd manage to do it, but he'd reached out and tested it, finding the hammer almost weightless in his hands and went for it.

It seemed to pay off for, as Thor took the hammer, Athena was giving him a small smirk, the others falling silent, staring at him with complete surprise and wide eyes, none of them seeming to harbor the distrust they had mere minutes ago, and that was enough for now. Perhaps he had proven himself worthy of being an Avenger.

Whatever the case, they DID need to go, Ultron wouldn't slow his plans now that the twins had defected and the doctor woman that had been helping him was resting in a secure hospital room to recover. No, if anything, Ultron would advance more quickly than ever, so, with that in mind, he quickly walked out of the room.

Thor watched him go, glancing from the cape swishing after the robot to the hammer in his hand, to Athena who seemed both pleased and amused by this turn of events. He shook his head, "Right," he cleared his throat, moving forward, patting Tony on the shoulder as he passed, "Well done."

A/N: I can't believe this story is more than halfway done! I'm going to be so sad when it's over :'( But then it just means one step closer to the prequel on Olympus :) I hope that the reasoning Athena had for letting Vision come to be, to see what he'd do first, made sense. I feel like she's learned from her past experience of condemning someone before hearing their side or giving them a chance to prove something and would rather avoid it now. If they preemptively attacked Vision, assuming the worst in him before he did anything, all it would serve to do was ensure he'd be their enemy instead of their ally.

Also, just wanted to give a small warning. I'm going to be selling at a flea market a town or two over from me tomorrow and we set up early and then I go straight to work afterwards, so I may not be able to post the next chapter till very late. It WILL be up, but it probably won't be the time the posts have been happening lately ;) If, in the unlikely situation that I miss posting the chapter entirely, I will post two chapters the following day to make up for it though ;)

Some notes on reviews...

Yup, there will be a new Flashover next week, I mentioned in the A/N for that story's last chapter that, for the time being, the updates would be every other week till about April, when I should be finishing up tutoring my sister's boyfriend and have more time :)

We'll see a little more of the Commandos, but more in Bucky's OC than with Steve ;) I love the songs, but I can't say if they fit with either OC just yet, we'll have to wait and see what they're like ;) The compass was something I loved in the movie, how Steve kept Peggy's picture there, but that may not be the case for his OC for a reason we'll have to wait to see in the story ;) I'm very sorry to hear it might be cancelled :( I haven't had a chance to watch most of it, but the parts I have seen I thought were very well done. I think the same thing happened with Season 1, it was in threat of being cancelled and was renewed, hopefully the same outcome will happen here and we'll get another season :)

Lol, I could see a Thor/Athena baby having a miniature rattle designed to look like Mjolnir, I feel like that's definitely something Thor would do if he had a son ;)


	8. The Battle Begins

The Battle Begins

Athena sat between Thor and Barton on the jet, heading back to Sokovia for what they were all sure would be their final battle against Ultron. They would ensure it was, or die trying. She glanced around the jet, observing the others that were there, Tony piloting while Steve had a quiet discussion with Banner. The twins were across from her, sitting beside one another, gripping hands and seeming nervous, or Wanda did, Pietro's face was set in a hard, determined mask.

These children were so young, and despite their imaginings and what they believed they had endured, they truly hadn't experienced war and battle like this. The files she had read, detaining their powers and biographies, said that they were active protestors in their country, but standing there shouting words or waving signs was not war. They may have enhanced abilities granted to them by the Mind Stone, but they had never truly fought. Even when they faced each other earlier, the two had gone for underhanded and sneaky tricks instead of true battle. Pietro ran around, knocking people over and disrupting them, but he had yet to kill anyone, and Wanda…she merely manipulated their minds, sometimes pushing them back with her red energy, but she hadn't actually injured them yet.

She honestly wasn't sure if the twins would be able to do it, to stop an attacker's life instead of merely knock them back where they could get back up.

She glanced over at Barton, the man glancing at a picture of his wife and children for strength and a reminder of what he needed to return to, "I am sorry we could not get to know your family better," Athena spoke quietly to him

"You two had your own things to deal with," Barton shrugged, putting the picture away, "And I think Laura was a little relieved for it, the house was crowded enough with just the others around. Having the Hulk and two gods able to smash the walls in with a punch might not have been good for her nerves."

Athena smiled a little at that, she could hear it in his voice that the man was slightly disappointed they hadn't stayed longer. Despite keeping his family a secret, the man did seem to want to include both in his life, to have the Avengers know of his family, able to be a part of their lives as Natasha was, but also to give his family the chance to meet the men and women he worked with, the ones he helped save the world with.

"I should like to visit one day," she offered, "Perhaps once the young one has arrived."

Barton smiled, nodding, before starting to laugh, making Athena give him a questioning look, "Sorry just…imaging Thor holding a baby."

Athena gave a soft chuckle at that image too, praying that her face wasn't heating up at the reminder that she may have actually promised Thor children in the future. It had started innocently enough, picturing this huge, bulking man in armor, with this tiny being in his hands, making both look bigger and smaller by comparison, the child having Barton and Laura's features…but it quickly morphed into a small golden-haired, light-eyed boy, and she knew it was their child she was picturing. And then, suddenly, it didn't look so comical, Thor holding a child, it looked…infinitely more appealing when it was her own she was picturing him cradling.

She knew most would think Thor too brutish or hardened a warrior to manage holding something so fragile so gently, but she knew from experience that he could be the most gentle man on the planet when he wished to be. The way he would cradle her face in his hands, the delicate manner in which he would hold her own in his, the softness of his touch when it grazed against her cheek. Thor had the potential to be gentle and light of touch when he wished to be. And with a child in his hands, she knew he would hold it with such reverence and awe, far more than any woman could muster seeing both Steve and Thor shirtless, she mused. And if it was their child…there would be no force in all the realms that would dare be able to harm it, not with Thor protecting and guarding it as she knew he would. He was ready to rule Asgard, to protect and care for his people, if he could handle doing that for all of his subjects, his own child would be infinitely more.

And there was also herself, she would sooner cut down anyone that so much as looked at her child with a glint in its eye than allow a single strand of its hair to come to harm.

She quickly shook her head, clearing her throat, hoping no one noticed the blush she was now SURE was on her cheeks at the direction her thoughts had gone. She wasn't even pregnant, she and Thor hadn't even…done the act that would cause that situation yet, and she was already picturing Thor as a father and herself as a mother. She had to consider that though, she had never before thought of herself as being a mother, not for centuries, not when she was so sure she would never be with a man or find one in her heart. And then Thor came along and everything she once thought certain was proven wrong. Now here she was, actually considering herself as a mother, what might change about her, what she would be like as one.

For her to be picturing that future…it had to mean she was ready for it, didn't it?

Never before had she so much as thought of children with Thor outside the realm of knowing, in the back of her mind, that it would be expected of her to produce an heir if they did marry and ascend the throne of Asgard. Now it was a very real vision in her mind, and not one induced by a young girl's tricks but her own genuine desire.

She wanted children.

She wanted to be a mother.

She let out a long breath at that, shaking her head slightly, feeling more amused than uncomfortable with the revelation. It would be just her luck that she would realize it as she was about to head into battle. And, oddly enough, she felt…content with her change of heart. It should have been alarming to her, it should have made her wish to flee the room, made her feel infinitely uncomfortable to think that SHE, the Virgin Goddess as the humans called her, the woman that had never wanted a man before, that had never felt the need to be a mother…now wanted that. It was funny though, how things changed when new people entered your life, how you found yourself considering new things, things you had never thought of before, because…you'd changed. She had changed ever since she made it to Asgard, for the better she liked to think. She had genuine friends now, she had a life she loved living instead of one where she woke dreading the repetitiveness of the day to come, she had a man in her life that she deeply loved, and she wasn't quite as fearful of the responsibilities that would fall upon her as Queen any longer.

Her vision, the one she'd seen from Wanda's manipulations, with her on the throne of Olympus…it frightened her because, that really was how it was going to be, should her father ever pass. She was his first-born, his only-born of his first wife, she was his heir over all his other children. If he ever did pass naturally and not from a coup or assassination or regicide, she would be Queen of Olympus, over even Hera. Hera would become a Dowager Queen as, despite Hera and Zeus being siblings, Zeus DID have an heir in her and she was of age to take the throne if Zeus stepped down or passed. Hera wouldn't even hold the title of Queen Mother as she was NOT her mother, but her step-mother…and aunt.

She shuddered thinking about her family tree and the products of the rather…close…unions among them. What had not seemed strange to her on Olympus, who married who and their relation to each other, not disturbed her greatly through her time on Earth.

Still, she had been frightened of ruling Olympus in her father's stead, because she would be alone, she would have been surrounded by her family, all of whom had fallen with her in the Dark Days, and would likely not be able to stop her now if they returned but encourage it. It was a temptation they all fought against, some more than others. She hadn't considered a husband then, so she would have been the sole ruler, without anyone there to balance her or keep her in check from the power.

Thinking herself Queen of Asgard now, knowing Thor would be beside her, perhaps even with children around to help remind her of what was truly important in life, she wasn't quite as fearful. Thor would never let her become who she had been, just as she would not allow him to fall back into the man he had been either. They would keep each other straight, and they would rule together, balancing each other in a way she wouldn't have been on Olympus.

And now…now she felt that the notion of children wasn't quite so unreal or far-fetched.

She didn't want them right that second, no, she was still very nervous about the actual act itself of conceiving the children, but…one day, if they happened, she would be open to it.

She swallowed, forcing those thoughts from her mind and turning to Barton again, "The twins…" she began, keeping her voice low, "How did that happen?"

Barton almost snorted at how suddenly it had happened, "Apparently the girl got an eyeful of what Ultron was really planning to do…"

"Destroy the world?"

He nodded, "And they realized they didn't want to take their revenge quite that far. So they defected and came to help us when we tried to confront him a second time. They proved themselves enough, I guess," he shrugged, still bitter that Natasha had been taken, "I still don't trust them completely though."

Athena understood that, "Nor would I," she agreed, sighing. Her own family had turned on each other, there were few she trusted now to truly have her back and maintain their loyalty to her, she could count them on one hand really and the largest count was to her left. Still, they would need some level of trust going into this battle, "Perhaps they shall prove themselves more now."

"They better," he grumbled, getting up to go speak to Banner as Steve left him to talk to the twins.

Athena looked over at Thor, seeing him looking down at Mjolnir resting in his hands, turning it over and over as he watched it, deep in thought, "Thor?" she reached out to put a hand on his forearm, stilling his movement.

He let out a breath, moving to place the hammer beside his foot, "It is nothing."

She lifted an eyebrow at that, "Try that again."

He felt his lips quirk into a smile at the corner, she could read him as easily as he could her, "Vision…he lifted the hammer."

"Then he must be worthy," she teased him gently.

Thor glanced at her, "Does it make me foul or arrogant to find myself…disappointed he could?" he inquired softly, "For…many years, only my father and I could lift it and now…"

Athena squeezed his arm lightly, "No," she told him, "For those years you have defined your ability to rule and rule well by Mjolnir finding you worthy," she reasoned, "To have another able to lift it so effortlessly, it would be natural to question that now. But Thor," she shifted more so she could face him fully, her hand moving to his cheek instead, "No one is more worthy than you to rule Asgard."

"But Mjolnir…"

"Perhaps that was its way of letting us all know Vision is worthy of something else," she cut in, not about to let him question himself the way she had. She would not see him break or feel the pain she had if she could help it, "He possesses the Mind Stone, perhaps Mjolnir was trying to tell us that he is worthy of that, worthy enough to keep it. That he is worthy to exist and retain it."

Thor frowned at that, thinking of all the trouble that had been caused because they had left the scepter in SHIELD's possession, but considering her words. The Mind Stone was, in a way, connected to Asgard, Mjolnir WOULD react to it, he reasoned. Perhaps she was right, perhaps it wasn't a testament to Vision's worthiness to rule Asgard but just that the being was worthy of life.

"If he can defend himself from Ultron," Thor decided, "Then the Mind Stone would be safe with him."

Athena nodded, agreeing. If it was going to take all their efforts to stop Ultron, but truly only Vision could vanquish the robot in the end…then it was a testament to how powerful the Mind Stone, and by extension, Vision were. If Vision could hold his own against an enemy like Ultron, there would be few, if any, that would be able to take the Mind Stone from him in the future.

"We may not return to Asgard with the scepter," Athena continued, lowering her hand to his, "But we shall return with knowledge that the realms are protected from it falling into the wrong hands, in a way we weren't able to before."

Thor gave a nod to that, they had trusted SHIELD but knew it had enemies that would do anything to see it taken down, and they were mere mortals. Vision was something more, something that would be able to protect itself more than a human could, "Aye," he squeezed her hand, thankful for her reassurance, "We shall return and return victorious," he couldn't help but smirk slightly at that, "And then when the revels for our quest have settled…another may take its place, one larger and grander, one that shall be recorded in the history of Asgard for centuries to come."

Athena's face scrunched at that, clearly going through all the celebrations and important occasions in Asgard's history that she had studied to work out which one he was speaking of, when he chuckled.

"Athena," he took her other hand, "I speak of a wedding."

She blinked, "A wedding?"

"Aye, ours," he added, seeing that she was having difficulty catching up to that, "I wish for us to be wed when we return. This…mission, what we have endured and faced down, it has only served to remind me, to prove, that we are stronger, better, together. If I am to take the throne of Asgard, I will not do it unless I can be the best king Asgard could have, and I cannot be that…without you at my side."

"Our wedding?" Athena repeated, still caught on that.

Thor smiled, "I would not have us wait longer than we must."

It was so much more than just wanting to be a good king. He knew he had come so close to losing her this time, and not to a physical enemy, but to the demons of her past. She had reminded him, in how he fell apart, how easily he could as well. They were truly better together and he wanted to be there for her in all things, at all turns, being the one to support her in any way she needed. He wanted to be the one to call her his wife, his love, his Queen, just as he would be her husband, her love, her King.

"Weddings mean marriage..."

"Yes?" Thor's smile started to fall on how completely thrown Athena seemed to be.

"You want to marry me…"

"More than anything," he admitted, only now realizing that the way he'd phrased that might not have been the best. Had he even asked her to marry him in the first place? He blinked, he hadn't. He hadn't actually ASKED her to marry him, he'd just jumped right to the wedding and…

He nearly jumped back when he felt lips on his own but quickly returned the kiss Athena was giving him, his hand winding into her hair as his other moved around her. He didn't know what had brought this on from how she had been reacting, but he was not about to turn the other way when she kissed him.

Athena pulled away with a gentle smile on her face, "Only you would assume I would say yes to marrying you and skip to plans of a wedding."

He flushed at that, "I…was not thinking clearly," he admitted, "I never do around you. I could ask if you…"

Athena let out a light breath, "I don't need you to ask, Thor," she told him, "You are the only man I have ever loved, will likely be the only one I ever shall, I would never have said no if you asked me," she smiled, "I am glad you know me so well."

"I look forward to getting to know more of you," he told her, both being completely honest, telling her that anything that haunted her, anything dark or tormented in her past that she didn't want him to know, he would be open and understanding should she tell him…and being entirely a man in how he also wiggled his eyebrows in suggestion of some things about her that he didn't know just yet…but would upon the wedding night.

"Well aren't you two sweet," Tony's voice broke through their small haze, reminding them very sharply that they were in the middle of a jet, surrounded by an audience, and on their way to a battle, "I hope I get an invite to the wedding," he added, smirking at how the two were beet red now, "I've got a speech all prepared and hey, if you need any advice for the wedding night, I…"

"Stark," Steve cut in, seeing Athena hiding her mortified face behind Thor's shoulder as Thor glared at the man. As happy as he was for the two that they were now officially about to marry, they really did need to focus on the upcoming confrontation with Ultron, "Congratulations," he offered to Thor and Athena, "You both deserve some happiness after all of this. But we have bigger things to focus on at the moment, yeah?" they nodded, all of them growing serious, "The people of Sokovia are our primary concern when we touch down, all they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We find Romanoff, and we clear the field. Keep the fight between us. Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

~8~

The plan was relatively simple, in the end. Sokovia did have to come first, the people needed to be evacuated before they would even consider facing down Ultron. They also needed to discover what he was working on, what his next method of attack would be, how he planned to end the world, as well as find Natasha at the same time. So they split up into groups to ensure that their plan succeeded.

The twins would be responsible for evacuating the city, Pietro had gone to the police to get them moving and helping the others flee while Wanda used her mind powers to manipulate the people into getting up and leaving, to take nothing but just go and get out of there. Captain America and Hawkeye would be on the ground, helping direct the people and keep on guard, waiting for Ultron to inevitably attack, holding him off and distracting him while Banner made his way into Ultron's lair in search of Black Widow. Thor and Athena were to accompany Banner, to help him gain access into the tunnels that ran below the former-HYDRA base. While that was happening, Ironman was to confront Ultron and do what he must to stop the robot and its new Iron Legion.

Athena was quiet as she walked with Thor into the lower levels of the base, Thor having broken down the wall with Mjolnir to allow them in. Banner gave them a nod, heading up the stairs to find Natasha, leaving them to head further into the base. It didn't take them long to come across the remnants of a Chitauri battleship. They had expected that though, Tony had mentioned it to them when he spoke of how he'd found the scepter and where he'd located it. They would have to destroy that as well, the last thing an organization like HYDRA needed was access to a dangerous alien technology.

They glanced at each other, nodding, and heading for the ship, knowing it would be best to destroy it now than to allow the possibility that Ultron would utilize it for his attack. Thor had just pulled his arm back to strike at it…when the room suddenly swarmed with the Iron Legion, all under Ultron's command.

They didn't hesitate to begin their defensive attack, focusing on the robots instead of the ship, smashing them with Mjolnir and cutting them down with Athena's sword. It was surprising to them just how few robots had actually come to stop the two of them, but when the entire base began to shake, nearly sending them to the ground, they understood why. They had only just barely finished of the robots in sight when parts of the ceiling began to fall down around them, the trembling floor throwing them off.

Athena quickly lifted her shield, blocking the debris from hitting her and Thor.

"Stark," they both muttered, not needing to see it to know that Ironman had likely found Ultron and incited him to launch his attack now.

"We must retreat to the others," Athena said to Thor over the sound of the rocks threatening to bury them.

"Aye," he agreed, "The town could not have been evacuated yet, innocents will be in danger."

They struggled, but with Athena's shield for protection and Thor's hammer to clear a path, they soon made it to the doorway they'd come through, rushing back out into the woods around the base, only to see that part of the city had been lifted into the air and was now floating high above and rising higher with every second. It was even more imperative to get to the others now, there was no way that the civilians had been evacuated from the center of the city in time to escape the land separating from itself, some would be trapped.

Athena wrapped her arms around Thor as he lifted Mjolnir, taking off into the air to get back to the city, hearing Ironman crying out in their earpieces, "Cap, you got incoming!"

"Incoming already came in," Captain America grunted, clearly winded, making them run faster to get to his aid for anything that could take down Captain America like that would need more help to battle, "Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off!"

Halfway up to the city a car fell past them off the edge of it, a woman screaming as she was trapped within. Thor looked to Athena, who nodded, releasing him and grasping his free hand instead, allowing him to throw her the rest of the way up before he turned around and flew after the woman. Athena landed gracefully at the edge of the flying city, right in front of a startled Captain America.

"How did you…" he shook his head, gaping at her for how she hadn't crashed or tumbled but just landed as though she had jumped down instead of up.

"One moment," Athena cut in, turning to jump off the side of the floating city once more, this time grabbing the edge of it and grabbing the woman that Thor had thrown up to them. She didn't even have to shout for Captain America to come assist her in getting the woman up for he had rushed to the edge to see what she was doing. They locked eyes and shared a nod of understanding, Athena gently tossing the woman up and into Captain America's arms, climbing back up quickly.

One of the robots began to shout, speaking with Ultron's voice, as it flew right for Captain America, seeing him distracted, "You can't save them all. You'll never..."

But it didn't see Athena climbing up, so it also didn't see her slice its head off with her sword, "You were saying?" she grunted, kicking the body of the robot off the edge of the bridge for good measure.

She looked over at Thor as he landed beside her, the two sharing a nod and lunging at the metal men that surrounded them, attacking with a vengeance till Captain America could rejoin them. It only took moments before he was at their side once more, bouncing his shield on the ground for Thor to slam with Mjolnir, sending it cutting through a number of robots as they batted. Athena managed to stab one through the chest, turning to hurl it at a group behind her, sending them flying into a gas tanker, causing it and the robots to explode.

"Thor!"

Athena spun around at the sound of Ultron's voice to see the robot itself had flow into the battle, a robot that now looked upgraded with the Vibranium.

It flew directly at Thor as he took out robot after robot, "You are bothering me," it stated, grabbing him and hauling him into the air, capturing Thor as it flew away, before sending him crashing through the roof of what appeared to be a temple.

"THOR!" Athena shouted, wanting to go after him herself, but she saw Vision had joined them and seen what was happening, was flying in Thor's direction with haste. She hesitated only a moment, debating whether to join the man or remain with the team and fight the robots, not wanting to abandon them again but also not wanting to leave Thor to face Ultron without her either.

"Hawkeye," she heard Captain America call into the earpiece, "Report!"

"Alright," Hawkeye answered, "We're all clear here."

Captain America nearly scoffed at that, ducking under an attack, "We are not clear! We are very not clear!"

"Alright, coming to you," Hawkeye reassured.

Athena closed her eyes just a moment, her decision made. Thor would be safe with Vision, a being that could also lift the hammer to defend him where she only had her sword and no way to get there fast enough to help, unlike Vision. But the team needed her help now, they weren't clear, the civilians weren't safe, that had to come first. Thor was strong and fast, a skilled warrior and he now had equally strong assistance, he would be safe for now, the others weren't.

So she took a breath and turned, her eyes snapping open in time to shove her sword through the chest of an attacking robot.

"Hold them off," Captain America called to Athena as they fought, "Assistance is on the way."

"Assistance is here," another voice joined them, a very welcome one given that the owner of it had been captured and separated from them earlier.

"Romanoff!" Captain America nearly heaved in relief when he saw Black Widow rushing over to join them, throwing his shield to her as he saw a robot attacking her, getting it to her just in time to use it on the robot instead.

"Thanks," Black Widow threw the shield back.

"A very welcome return, my friend," Athena called, "It is good to see you well."

"Not 'well,'" Black Widow grumbled, "More pissed as hell."

"The next wave's gonna hit any minute," Captain America reminded them, tapping his earpiece, "What have you got, Stark?"

"Well, nothing great," Ironman replied, "Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear."

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second. We're going to have to make a choice."

"Cap, these people are going nowhere," Black Widow shook her head, looking around at the people still ducking for cover and running away from the chaos, "If Stark finds a way to blow this rock..." then they might just have to go with it, the risk to the rest of the world was too great.

"We are their protectors," Athena disagreed, even if it meant being on the floating city as it was blown up, they MUST get the other people off first.

"Not 'til everyone's safe," Captain America determined.

"Everyone up here versus everyone down there?" Black Widow looked around, sounding more, to Athena, as though she were trying to figure out how to get the people up there off, but the numbers were just too big, "There's no math there."

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it," he sent a glare to her.

"I didn't say we should leave," she held up her hands.

"I believe she was saying that we would remain, but if we do, while we may get everyone else off, there is no way WE would be able to do the same," Athena remarked.

"There's worse ways to go," Black Widow shrugged, a small smirk on her face as she nodded to the edge of the city where they were now even with the clouds, "Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff," another voice spoke over their earpieces, the familiar one of Nick Fury, "It's about to get better," they spun around to see a large Helicarrier rising into the air, Fury visible through the window of it, "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

Captain America let out a breath, "Fury, you son of a bitch."

Athena couldn't help but smirk at that, "Language."

A/N: I'm sorry this wasn't up yesterday, the day went a lot crazier than I thought it would :/ But, as promised, a second chapter will be up later today, probably between 10-12 hours from now ;)

AND, for anyone reading my OUAT Hook/OC story, you'll get a double treat because tomorrow will be the last chapter of this story AND I'll be resuming my Lyssa story as well, so you get two days in a row of double chapters ;)

I hope you liked the Thor/Athena moment :) I felt like we needed a little bit more of a hopeful moment between them given all they've been through, and right before the battle too. I could see Thor getting ahead of himself and just going straight for 'so when should we have our wedding?' instead of 'do you want to marry me?' first lol :) I think he knows that Athena loves him and he knows she'd say yes. He's alluded to it in the past, how he wanted her to be his Queen in Asgard too, and she hasn't exactly said no so he took that to mean that she would say yes to a marriage proposal one day. Whether or not they'll make it to a wedding in Thor 3 though is still to be decided }:)

Some notes on reviews...

That's something I always enjoyed about A.I., seeing the movies that explore how it can help or turn on humanity. Especially the ones that come up with loopholes to the 'laws' that people give the robots. Like in how 'I, Robot' had the loopholes around the Three Laws of Robotics. I mean even a clear cut rule like 'A robot cannot harm a human or allow a human to come to harm' had a loophole to it in that humans harmed themselves all the time and now the AI had to take over the world to ensure they'd be 'safe.' I think the most interesting thing about AI for me is that people try to control it or give it laws like that...but if they really wanted it to be as intelligent as possible, to be equal to a human consciousness...it would need freewill. They're basically just trying to create humans with metal/computer minds and humans can be both good or evil. I always find it funny how people in movies get so freaked out if a robot or AI does something wrong or 'against' humanity, but never stop to realize that humans do the exact same thing, so really...what did they expect AI to do when they want it to be more human? You want it to be like a human, you have to expect it will BE like a human and do good or bad or make its own choice :) I hope it gets renewed too, I like the shows where people solve crimes the old-fashioned way. It makes me wonder how they'd react to being brought to the modern times or the future and seeing how people solve things with higher technology, or to see how the future detectives get stumped and the 'past' detective can work it out from their know-how :)

I have a few crossovers planned, I feel like i need to wait and see if there might be another thing that comes up in OUAT that connects to one of the other stories I'm writing too. I like to keep the crossovers at 3 stories being combined and I have considered Dark Rose meeting Athena and Thor, but I also want another one there too. I feel like it can't be Merlin or Excalibur because I'm already set to do that crossover with OUAT, Merlin, and Doctor Who this year. Just have to go through the show once more and see if there's some other little things I missed :)


	9. Ultron's End

Ultron's End

"Oooh!" Fury chuckled over the loudspeakers, "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Captain America huffed and hung his head, shaking it, he was really NEVER going to live that down, was he?

Athena gave a small smirk at his reaction, it was just too amusing to see the great and powerful Captain America teased for something like that. It reminded her of the time she and Sif had managed to free Thor of the sorceress Lorelei's enchantment, they had teased him endlessly for falling for the woman's wiles, even though they knew it had been an actual enchantment he'd fallen under, a magic that none of the men taken by her in the past had been able to best, it was still amusing.

The only thing that kept Sif from teasing HER about how she'd reacted to Thor being under Lorelei's control was that Sif had always guessed that there was something more between her and Thor than either let on or admitted to, even back then. Sif had actually taken her reaction to Lorelei's hold on Thor as proof that she had been right in her assessment of their feelings, especially with how Thor reacted after he'd been freed, how he had tried to make amends with her more than Sif or even his own mother for his actions while under Lorelei's control. It was one reason Sif had volunteered to go to Earth to track Lorelei down instead of alerting her about it before then, Sif would have brought back a prisoner instead of a body.

It was ironic, yet understandable, how level-headed she had been when Lorelei first took Thor under her power compared to how she felt thinking of what she'd do if she had had to confront Lorelei now. Back then, she and Thor hadn't admitted they loved each other, or even that they liked each other, so it hadn't been quite so hard to keep her head about her and not react to what Lorelei was doing in an obvious way. She had tried to look at it logically, to find a way to free the men before anything terrible could happen. She had managed to convince herself, while it was happening, that it was far more important to protect Asgard than to remember how Lorelei had gotten to Thor, Asgard had to come first, protect Asgard…and then deal with the foul temptress and her lapdogs. She had covered up what she really felt, what she hadn't known she was truly feeling, about it all by teasing Thor instead of remaining angry at the situation. If she acted like it amused her and not that it had torn her heart out (for why should it have? She didn't love Thor, she didn't!) then it meant that Thor was merely her...friend...and not something more. She hadn't been ready for anything more back then.

Now though, now that she and Thor were more than just comrades in battle, if she had been confronted with Lorelei...she didn't want to think about how she'd react, knowing the woman had essentially seduced Thor, bent him to her will, used him in such a way.

She shook her head out of her thoughts at the sound of metal grinding to see that small, flying lifeboats were being directed towards the city for the remaining civilians.

"SHIELD to the rescue," Athena mused.

Pietro tilted his head at that, racing up behind them with Wanda and Hawkeye, eyeing the boats that were clearly coming to help them get people out alive, "This is SHIELD?"

"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be," Captain America agreed.

Pietro considered that, "This is not so bad."

"As I said," Athena murmured, "Hatred blinds."

Pietro fell silent at that, unable to find argument against it. She had been right, he knew, he and his sister had realized it nearly too late just how blinded they had been. There was a robot that clearly wanted to destroy Tony Stark, and that was all that they had needed to hear in order to join it, to offer their powers and help to see it through. They hadn't even stopped to consider WHY it wanted Tony gone so badly, hadn't even thought to wonder if it would want others gone. Something that was robotic as it had been, it had to have a programming, and what was it? It had been built and turned against its creator, what would that mean for his allies once the task was done?

They hadn't cared, if they died, they wouldn't have cared at all so long as Stark went down with them. And it had blinded them to what Ultron was really up to. It had made them almost as bad as those they protested against, that they had helped someone that was going to destroy the world. They wanted revenge, and they wanted to fight, and how did that make them better than their enemies? Stark, they knew, having followed his story over the years, had been doing what he genuinely believed was right, till he realized what was wrong with that and changed. They had been doing what they knew was wrong and evil, and they did it willingly. And didn't that just make them even worse than Stark? To know they were wrong and do it anyway, to keep doing it and not change?

Well, they HAD changed, nearly too late.

But they were trying now, they really were. He could see now, how SHIELD wasn't the enemy that HYDRA built them up to be either. HYDRA was the real enemy, he could guess that at least even if HYDRA had given him his power. He had just thought…Tony Stark worked with SHIELD, so therefore SHIELD had to be the enemy too. Neither he nor Wanda had stopped to really think about what SHIELD did, or why HYDRA hated them, or investigate either facility, they had just heard that they could be given something to help end SHIELD, and by association Stark, and signed up. By that logic, that just because SHIELD worked with Tony that they were the enemy, then the Avengers should have killed both him and his sister too with no regard, they had worked with Ultron, they were the enemy by association.

But, then again, Tony had created Ultron and the Avengers stood by him.

The fact that he and Wanda had never actually been targeted instead of detained or incapacitated, it should have told them all they needed to know about SHIELD and the Avengers, that they weren't the bad guys here.

He knew that now. And he would make up for all his mistakes and judgments, he wanted to be better than his enemies, and he would see to that with his last breath.

"Let's load 'em up!" Captain America called the moment the lifeboats were down, the ramps opening to let the people in.

It was lucky that they had been directing the remaining people of the city in that direction, towards the bridge out of the area, when the land had begun to rise, it meant they were all already there, having fled not far when the robots attacked and were already near enough to the lifeboats to get them inside before more robots appeared.

The team sprang into action, herding the people towards the boats with as much haste as they could manage while still keeping an eye out for the robots that they knew couldn't be finished coming. Ultron had had access to all of Tony's warehouses and manufacturing sites, had taken control and could build more and more, he had an entire army and they all knew they'd only dealt with a handful so far.

"Incoming!" Hawkeye called out as a line of robots flew at them, targeting the helicarrier…only for another Ironman suit, this one a darker grey, to rise from behind the carrier, blasting the robots as they came near.

"War Machine, thank god," Captain America muttered under his breath for the extra backup they'd been given.

"Alright, let's load 'em up!" Hawkeye repeated Captain America's order, ushering people to the ships, "Alright, here we go. Here we go, let's move. Let's go everyone!"

"Faster," Athena urged, moving person after person towards the next empty vessel, "Quickly!"

"Incoming!" this time it was Black Widow that shouted the warning, but it wasn't directed at them but the carrier, a robot managing to smash right through one of the windows, crashing inside the craft. They could hear the gunshots and screaming from there, but it was over quickly which had to mean that the robot had been dealt with.

"Athena!" Captain America shouted, noticing that Athena kept looking back over her shoulder at the building Thor had crashed through, clearly anxious to get to him, "We'll get to him, I promise, but focus on the civilians!"

Athena pursed her lips at being scolded as though she were a child, as though her reflexes and senses weren't honed enough that she could look away from her enemy and not know when it was about to attack her, but did her duty, getting the people to safety…and praying to the Fates that Thor was still well and whole, that she hadn't made a mistake in not going after him when he was taken.

~8~

Thor grunted as he was hit, repeatedly, by Ultron, taking each and every blow and not allowing the robot to see how pained he was, for the attack was very brutal, Ultron being in his newest and upgraded body, it actually hurt him this time. But he couldn't let on, he couldn't allow Ultron to see how much he was slowing down. If the robot got even a hint of it gaining the upper hand, he would cease to attack, wanting to watch him weak on the ground, or he would try and deal a finishing blow. He needed Ultron distracted for as long as possible. So long as Ultron was fighting with HIM, he wouldn't be paying attention to the rest of his robots which might give the others a better chance at destroying the metal army.

"You think you're saving anyone?" Ultron scoffed, punching Thor once more, "I turn that key and drop this rock a little early and it's still billions dead. Even you can't stop that," he sneered.

Thor glared at the metal man, feeling disgust fill him for both Ultron and even himself. He could hear an echo of the man he used to be in what Ultron had just said. He couldn't help but think of Jotunheim, of the war he had nearly engaged in with the Frost Giants, his greatest act of arrogance, the one he had been banished for.

He had thought he was saving Asgard with his actions, had thought he was keeping the people safe from any further attacks by the Giants. He had been willing to march in there, he had been hoping for a fight, he WANTED a battle with the enemies of Asgard, so he would have an excuse to slaughter them. In his mind, at that point in time, having billions of Frost Giants dead would have been a small price to pay to keep his people safe and to ensure his enemies fell. It had been no matter to him, whether the Giants lived or died. He had thought himself invincible in that moment, that he couldn't be stopped.

Sif hadn't stopped him, nor had the Warriors Three, not even Athena had been able to stop him. And it had made him feel powerful, had made him feel like a king that he could convince the warriors to join him instead of stop him. He understood why Athena had gone, right to the end she had tried to prevent the war, but even she failed, and he felt like he had won.

He had truly lost so much more than just his father's trust in him, than his immortality or power, than his title or his kingdom. He had lost himself in that action. He had lost what it truly meant to be not just a good king, but a decent man. He had fought like hell to get it back, to prove himself. Even now the events of Jotunheim still fueled him to be a better man than he had been, much like Athena's past pushed her to be a better, wiser woman.

Ultron, he knew, would have no such push, the robot was too hardwired to want this instead, he wouldn't feel guilt or be reasoned with. There was no punishment they could give the robot to make him regret what he was planning to do. He had to be destroyed.

And for that to happen, his plans had to be stopped, ALL of them, including the rest of his army. He just needed a little longer. The moment Athena arrived, he would know for sure that the others were well and the iron men had been destroyed. Athena would not risk leaving the team and the innocents to fend against the robots just to assist him dealing with one, even if it was the leader. He had taken down bigger, stronger enemies in the past, he could handle this. No, when Athena arrived it would be only because the threat of the metal army was done with.

"I am Thor, son of Odin," Thor struggled to speak as Ultron put a hand around his throat, trying to force him to his knees, his gaze flickering to the side as he caught someone coming up behind Ultron, reaching for the hammer that he had dropped in the middle of Ultron's attack, "And as long as there is life in my breast, I am...running out of things to say!" his attention focused on Ultron, not allowing his gaze to flicker away again, not risking Ultron catching wind to what was about to happen, "Are you ready?"

Ultron tilted his head, not sure why Thor was asking him that…when he went flying to the side, Vision slamming Mjolnir against him, sending him right out of the temple.

"It's terribly well balanced," Vision remarked, tossing the hammer back to Thor.

"Well," he made a few experimental swings, "If there's too much weight, you lose power on the swing, so…"

"Thor!" Ironman shouted in his ear, "I got a plan!"

"We're out of time," Thor shook his head, looking out of one of the holes in the walls to see the metal men in the distance heading for the temple, "They're coming for the core."

"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier," Ironman ordered.

"On it," War Machine responded.

"Avengers, time to work for a living!" Ironman called, "Regroup with Thor."

"Carrier?" Thor looked at Vision, not entirely sure what was going on, he'd been so focused on Ultron and the attack he hadn't exactly been listening to the reports over the earpiece.

Vision nodded, "SHIELD has arrived with a helicarrier to evacuate."

"Good," Thor replied, taking a much needed breath, and wincing, placing a hand over his side, knowing his ribs had been bruised soundly, perhaps even broken, by the beating he'd taken.

"You're inj…" Vision began, noticing, only to cut off suddenly as Thor held up Mjolnir in warning, a glare on his face. He held up his hands slowly in surrender, looking confused.

"I am fine," Thor said quietly, hoping on one (Athena) would hear that over the earpiece. The last thing he wanted was for her to know he was injured. There was an unspoken agreement among the soldiers in Asgard, even more with him and those closest to him, like the Warriors Three, Sif, and especially Athena, that if one was injured another would guard its back till help could be sought, the battle could end, or they were able to make it to a safe location to get help. If Athena saw him injured, she would be worried and watching his back more than her own, "Eager for this battle to end."

"Never thought I would hear the Almighty Thor say that," Athena's voice sounded, not in the earpiece but in the doorway, Athena hurrying in with the other Avengers behind her, regrouping as Ironman had ordered.

"Romanoff?" Ironman called into his comm. when he flew in through one of the holes in the wall to see the twins, Captain America, Hawkeye, and Athena there with the others, but no Hulk or Black Widow, "You and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini."

"Relax, Shell-head," Black Widow responded, "Not all of us can fly," a moment later the ground shook as the Hulk ran in with Natasha, setting her down as they looked to Ironman for the next step in his plan, "What's the drill?"

Ironman pointed to a device set up in the middle of the room, looking like a metal cylinder set above a deep, small hole in the ground, "This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose…"

They all spun around when a hole blasted in from a wall, and Ultron appeared in the middle of it.

Thor glared at the robot, "Is that the best you can do?"

Athena closed her eyes and shook her head at Thor's words when, a moment later, what seemed like the rest of the iron army joined their master.

Captain America, too, shot Thor a look that said 'You HAD to ask?!' to which Thor could only shrug apologetically.

"Well, like the old man said," Ironman responded, "Together."

And the battle began anew, the robots of the army swarming into the temple as the Avengers did their best to fight back, all of them moving into a circle around the key, defending it fiercely, Ironman and Vision flying above, taking out robot after robot as they fought on. Captain America using his shield, Hawkeye his bow, Natasha her guns, Thor and Athena their hammer and sword, the Hulk his brute strength, while the twins used their abilities. They were defensive, they were united, and it became all too clear to Ultron that neither he nor his robots would be getting through the line to the key.

So the robot attacked them himself, flying for the key, thinking he could push his way past them and grab it...when Vision sent a blast at him from the gem in his head, forcing him out of the temple with the force of it. Thor and Ironman instantly followed, using Mjolnir and the gauntlet blasters to fire at Ultron as well. Athena ran to the edge of the temple, looking out to see that they had gotten Ultron to his knees as he tried to hold off the combined attack. But it was too much. He fell back, the attack ending to reveal a charred Ultron there, still standing though.

"You know," he began, "With the benefit of hindsight..."

Whatever he was going to say was lost as Hulk raced at him and sent a fierce blow at the metal man, sending him flying far away into the sky above the city, the robots seeming to start to retreat with the disappearance of their master, as though Ultron had realized this battle was finishing up, that he wouldn't win and needed to regroup in order to attack another day.

"They will attempt to flee the city," Athena warned, able to guess the strategy Ultron would employ next she had been careful to study the robot every chance she got, and she was fairly certain that she knew what he would do in this case, where he seemed to have clearly lost the fight.

"We can't let 'em, not even one," Ironman agreed, "Rhodey!"

"I'm on it," War Machine called back from where he was still defending the carrier.

"Vision," Ironman turned to the red-robot, "Go help him."

Vision nodded and took off to assist.

"You two," Captain America turned to Thor and Athena, "Go, see where he landed, see if you can't slow him down, keep him here."

Thor and Athena nodded, the two taking off into the air after Ultron.

~8~

It turned out to be far more difficult to actually spot Ultron than it should have been, Ultron had to have been weakened by the attack, yet there had been no sight of the metal man for too long, it was making them both nervous.

They could tell the mastermind of the metal army hadn't left the city, there had been no reports for SHIELD who was monitoring the island, or War Machine, so Ultron WAS there, but they didn't know where.

"There's no sign of Ultron," Athena reported to the others as she and Thor set down on the ground, just outside the last lifeboat, meeting up with Captain America and Hawkeye.

"I'm gonna need Thor and Athena back in the church," Ironman called out.

"Go," Captain America nodded them off.

They hesitated though, "Is this the last of them?" Thor gestured at the lifeboat, not wanting to leave till they were sure all the humans were safe.

"Yeah," Captain America replied, "Everyone else is on the carrier. Go see what Stark wants."

Thor reached out for Athena, the two taking off into the air to fly back to the church, landing on top of it when they saw only Wanda standing within, protecting the key.

"Stark?" Thor called.

"Working on it," Ironman replied.

"From where?" Athena frowned.

"Under the city. Just give me a minute and we'll be ready, you two just keep watch. It's not that I don't trust the girl but there could be stragglers and we can't afford them getting to the key."

"Understood," Athena nodded, looking around with her keen eyes, as was Thor, for any sign that a metal soldier was coming.

"You know," Ironman continued, "If this works, we maybe don't walk away."

"Maybe not," Thor agreed.

"Oh, we will," Athena mimicked Wanda's accent, making Thor crack a smile, before she dropped it, "And you all shall too," she warned Ironman, "Or else I will go to Hel and drag all of you back. You are most certainly invited to our wedding."

Thor nearly beamed at that, at hearing her speak of their wedding, as Ironman just chuckled, "There better be some damn good wine," he warned, "Or I'll have to take it up with the manager. Ok…" he grunted a bit, just need another minute and we can start."

"Start what?" Thor asked, looking towards the back of the city, while Athena took the one near the front, able to see the lifeboats finishing loading in the distance.

"The last part of my brilliant plan," was all Ironman murmured.

"Thor!" Athena gasped, reaching out a hand on his arm as she saw a jet rising, starting to fire at the Avengers as they tried to get the last few people secure.

"Ultron!" Thor glared, seeing the robot in the cockpit, piloting the plane.

"What is it?" Ironman demanded.

"Ultron has gained access to a jet," Athena told him, "He's attacking."

"And the Hulk has gone after him," Thor reassured, not wanting to distract the man in his work, not if it would mean everyone would be safe. He could see the Hulk dropping something on the carrier and leaping into the air towards the jet, throwing Ultron out of it, the robot landing in a train.

"Pietro," Athena breathed in sorrow, seeing the boy fall from where he'd pushed a car in front of Hawkeye, the man having retrieved a scared child and turned to guard it from the fire with his back. The man who was so much like her brothers fell to the ground, riddled with bullet holes, having been too distracted in pushing the car to protect the child that he hadn't been able to dodge the bullets as well even with his speed.

"Hold on!" Thor cried out, grabbing Athena as the church shook, a blast of red energy waving out of it along with Wanda's agonized scream, she had clearly felt her brother die. They just managed to maintain hold of the church, looking down when it settled to see Wanda rushing out of it, on a warpath, heading in the train's direction.

"I would pity him," Athena muttered, meaning Ultron, "If he did not deserve the hell she shall rain upon him."

Thor could only nod solemnly, his heart going out to the girl, understanding the pain of losing your brother. Though he had not felt Loki die, he had been there when it happened, seen it, and he'd had to leave his body behind, that was something he knew the Avengers would not allow of their fallen hero.

Things fell silent after that, seeming like Wanda's outburst had destroyed all the remaining Iron Legion in the city, which was thankful. The lifeboat was also departing, just another moment longer and everyone would be out and safe and…

The ground shook, worse than before and they knew it had nothing to do with Wanda's power and everything to do with the floating city, especially when it began to quickly fall out of the sky. Athena just barely caught a glimpse of Captain America leaping onto the edge of a lifeboat as the city fell.

"Stark!" Thor shouted, gripping the top of the church more firmly, he and Athena barely holding on.

"On my mark!" Ironman called back, his voice strained, "Gather your lightning, Thor, and destroy the key! Athena, redirect the excess at the key!"

The two gods jumped down, not even bothering to find another way into the church besides Thor slamming Mjolnir onto the top to create yet another hole. They moved over to the key, able to see an energy winding around it, up the tunnel from below. Thor quickly held up Mjolnir, summoning the lightning of the gods, Athena pulling out her sword and standing across from him on the other side of the key, ready.

"NOW!" Ironman cried.

Thor, with a mighty bellow, brought Mjolnir down upon the key, shattering it, Athena lifting her sword high above her to attract the lingering lightning, swinging it down to cast it towards the small parts of the key that still existed, breaking them even more.

Their combined efforts worked as the Vibranium key not only tore itself apart, but went straight down the tunnel, causing the rest of the floating city to break apart as well.

"Athena!" Thor reached for her as she held her shield up to block the falling debris.

He grabbed her by the waist and lifted Mjolnir, the two of them flying out of the city as it crumbled, Athena protecting them from the remaining rocks and metal that flew at them as the city fell.

"There!" Athena gasped suddenly as they were far enough above the city to be out of distance of the danger.

Thor looked over just in time to see a flash of bright orange light, exactly like that of when Vision had attacked Ultron the first time, having used the Mind Stone.

They looked at each other, understanding what that meant, and smiled.

Vision had succeeded.

Ultron had been destroyed.

A/N: From what I understood of reactions to the movie, a lot of people were upset that Quicksilver had died the way he had, a lot of people kept saying that he could dodge bullets with his speed so it was unrealistic that he would use his body to shield Barton and the child from the bullets instead. But my reaction to that was always confusion. Like, he DIDN'T shield them with his body or take the shots instead. He literally pushed a car in front of Barton and while he was doing that, he couldn't speed fast enough to dodge the bullets too. I mean, I don't think he had supper strength? So a car would need some momentum to be moved the way it was. And even if he did have super strength, the car would still need him to go to it and bring it back and turn it over AND hold it in place because those bullets probably would have toppled it over onto Barton too. If you look closely, Barton turns to shied the child, there is no car there, when he looks up after realizing he's alive, there IS a car there and Pietro is next to him, still in the position of having pushed the car behind Barton. So I was always confused why people thought he blocked Barton with his body when there was the car there, so I just wanted to put that in this chapter, my little observation.

I can't believe the next chapter is the last one! O.O This went by so quickly! But still, given how long of a delay there was in getting this chapter up, I'm very happy that it's now going to be complete :) I do want to say, again, thank you all for your understanding about how long it took to get this up. I really appreciate it, last year was hard to get through and I really struggled with trying to keep the stories going when I said I would and things just added up over time. So I really am very touched and grateful for all your support and understanding about it all :')

Some notes on reviews..

Lol, I could see Emma just not being fazed by any of the destruction or enemies, just sort of walking through it like it was an everyday occurrence :) And I think Tony would definitely make that reference if he met Maleficent :)

I agree, humans can be hypocrites. I always find it really amusing when it comes to OCs too. Like, if you write an OC that is a hypocrite, people are like 'This is a terrible character, how dare they...' but if you don't have them be a hypocrite in some way, they're a 'Mary Sue' now? Like I even got a PM where someone actually called Piper, from my OUAT series, a Mary Sue for being a hypocrite too, which is funny to me. You can never win with OCs lol. I thought Ultron had quite a few Tony-like traits, which amused me :) Lol now all I'm picturing is Donna and Bucky, through time travel (darn the Doctor for popping out for some milk and leaving them stranded in 1917) being the original owners/creators of Barnes and Nobles and Donna being all sass-master and Bucky just being like 'Yes ma'am, whatever you say' :)

WWTW2 will be up October 13th ;)


	10. Fond Farewells

Fond Farewells

Thor nearly jumped out of his skin when the door to the room he'd been assigned by SHIELD in one of their bases opened suddenly. He didn't even have time to turn before he was tensing at the tone and voice behind him speaking.

"Did you think you could hide injuries from me?"

He let out a breath, hanging his head as though a child scolded, "No," he admitted, turning to face Athena as she rested in the doorway, leaning against the frame of it, her arms crossed, her expression a cross between amusement and worry for him.

"Then why even attempt it?"

"I did not want you to worry during the battle."

"I worried more," she remarked, pushing off the door to walk towards him, "I always worry when you hide injuries instead of tell me. I never know how badly they hurt you, how deeply they've cut without you telling or showing me. I was more worried about you because of it."

He inhaled sharply as she lifted a hand to gently press around a spotting of bruises on his side, by his ribs, but it was more from the sensation of her touching his skin and muscle than a pain from the wound. Athena always took care to tend to his wounds with a gentleness…sometimes. If he were injured in trying to prove something to someone or for an arrogant, self-serving reason, she could be vicious in how she tended to his wounds, making a point that he deserved an extra bit of pain for being a bull headed troll. But now, with these wounds having come from a battle well worth having, she was as gentle as ever.

"You know it only counts as foreplay if both shirts are off, right?" came the insufferably smug and teasing voice of Tony, who had peeked his head into the doorway when he saw Athena enter it, intending to tell her she should shut the door if she had any wicked plans for Thor, only to walk in on the sight of her feeling up Thor's chest.

"Get out Stark!" Thor nearly snarled at him for disrupting the touching and intimate moment they had been having, feeling even more angry when he saw Athena's cheeks start to pink and her posture grow more rigid in discomfort.

"Alright, alright," he held up his hands in surrender, backing away, "But if I were you, a sock on the door would help give extra warning, or you know, hang Mjolnir on the handle. NO ONE would dare open it then and…"

"OUT!" Thor glared at him, Athena's face now bright red, refusing to turn to face Tony now that he'd continued with the innuendo into something they both understood the intent of.

"To be young and in love," Tony reached in to shut the door for them, though they could hear him shout from the other side, "I expect to be the godfather!"

"Stark!" Thor huffed, Athena now with her hands on her face, hiding her mortification as he wound an arm around her to comfort her.

"Or at least an Uncle!" Tony just HAD to add before he finally seemed to leave.

Thor let out a huff, shaking his head and tugging Athena closer to him, "I am sorry for him," he ran his hand up and down her back, his other hand resting over her hair on the back of her neck, "He does not know when to stop."

"Next time he even starts, I am cutting out his tongue," Athena mumbled into his chest.

Thor chuckled at that, "I'll hold him down," he could feel Athena smile against him for that before she pulled away, looking up at him, "I love you," he told her, just feeling the need to repeat that to her.

She smiled more, "I love you as well," she stepped back though, "I do not love when you are injured though," she added, "Sit down," she gestured at the bed, moving to pick up a small bag he hadn't noticed her leaving by the door to his room. She set it on a dresser, opening it and taking out a few roles of cloth, a mortar and pestle, and a few jars of salve.

"From Apollo?" he guessed, the fragrant smell of healing herbs filling his nose as she began to crush a few and mix them

"Aye," she nodded, her back to him, though she felt her cheeks pink, almost feeling his gaze resting on a lower region of her body, "He wasn't willing to take chances, not with the omens he had been seeing. He prepared this for me before we left, incase we would have need of it."

They hadn't been badly injured in a long while, not even during their quest for the scepter and raiding of other HYDRA bases. This was the first in a time that one of them had actually been injured enough where it was necessary for the healing salves. Thor wasn't as badly injured as he could have been, she could tell just from pressing on his ribs as she had that he hadn't broken them, but they were soundly bruised, Ultron had seemed to take a special delight in targeting his chest, likely aiming for the man's heart she would guess.

He would also be exhausted from using that much power, directing that much lightning into the key and core of the city. She was exhausted and she had only managed to catch a few remaining bolts and redirect them. How Thor was even standing now was a feat.

She wasn't going to use much of her supplies, just enough to sooth the bruises and relieve his pain, then perhaps something to help him rest, but that would be all that was needed. The small cut on her own leg had already healed, hardly a noticeable scar to speak of. Woe was her for that, she had been hoping for a more telling battle scar from this.

Still, at least she was alive to tell the tale of the scar on her leg. Others hadn't been so lucky. Wanda had broken down on the way back to the Tower, the full impact of it hitting her. Apparently she had gone after Ultron and ripped out his heart, the same way hers felt it had been ripped out when her brother died. She shuddered to think about what that would feel like, feeling guilt settle in her stomach for more than one reason.

She never had to experience that, not like Wanda had. Oh she had lived through the loss of her half-siblings before, the true-demigods, the ones that had human mothers or fathers. Not all of them inherited immortality, like Dionysus had, or were bestowed it for their legacy, like Hercules had been. Some grew older and died on Earth, she had experienced what that was like. Even those that had died in battle or been cut down by others through nefarious means. She knew what it felt like to lose a sibling.

But it was still different, because she wasn't as close to those of her family as she was her full-immortal siblings. The demigods remained on Earth, often were raised by their human family, had barely any interaction with the rest of the gods till they needed help, and still stayed on Earth to the end. Once a quest was over, they might get a prayer of thanks from those they helped, a sacrifice or two here and there, but those siblings never lived on Olympus. She never grew with them, saw them every day, got used to them being there to the point where it would devastate her to lose them.

And her other siblings were immortal, so she had no risk of losing them, especially not now that they had cut ties to the Earth and most of the other realms. There was no risk to them, no danger.

Alternatively, she also felt guilt because, in the Dark Days, she wouldn't have cared if her siblings died. It would have just been one less enemy, one less betrayer, one less person aiming for the power of Olympus. For all she knew of herself back then, she might have even killed one or two herself if it came to it, and not shed a tear till centuries later. At her very worst, she would have been glad for the death of her siblings and that was terrible.

Wanda was suffering a terrible loss, and she felt so guilty for it, because she knew she'd never experience something as painful as that and, at times, she wouldn't have cared enough to feel anything.

Athena stiffened, stilling in her efforts, when she felt Thor's strong arms wrap around her from behind, "Your thoughts grow dark," he murmured in her ear, kissing the hair just above it.

"How can you tell?" she wondered, resuming her mixing at a more sedate pace.

"I know your body," he tightened his hold on her in a gentle squeeze, "I know how you tense in different ways when different thoughts strike you. I know your expressions, which ones fit for different memories and ponderings. And I know when your hands shake," he reached out to place one of his over hers holding the mortar, "That you are thinking about the Dark Days."

It was a tell for her, as much as how he acted when he was injured was a glaring sign to her, her hands only really shook when she was lost in very dark thoughts about her past.

Athena took in a deep breath at that, "I sometimes hate that you know me so well."

"No you don't," she could feel his smirk against her ear, "You love that I can read you so you don't have to actually SAY what you are thinking or feeling, just that I can know and come to you to help. So," he softly pried the mortar from her hand and placed it on the small dresser, taking her hand with his to turn her to face him, "Banish your thoughts of the past, and look instead to the present, to the future, to how different it will be from those days."

Athena couldn't help but smile at that, he really did know her well. And after this entire situation, she could understand his thoughts on them marrying. It really had proven to her as well just how much they did need each other, how much they knew each other, and how much they were each other's strength and support. They relied on each other, not in a dangerous, co-dependent way, they were both individuals, and they both had obligations and duties, other people that relied on them, that kept them going as well. But they were united in a way that…she had never felt before. He had cared for her so dearly when she was suffering from Wanda's vision, he knew exactly what to say, what to do, to make her feel better. Just as she knew what troubled him and how comfort him. They made each other better, they balanced each other, and, together, they would be even better with the lasting tie of marriage between them.

Not only would it unite them in every possible way, it would unite their people, their kingdoms as well.

It was funny, that thought, that realization that the realms of Olympus and Asgard would forever be united and allies through her marriage to Thor. Because it should have been one of the first to strike her when Thor brought up marriage. It was a wise move, it was an expected move ages ago, to unite kingdoms and form alliances through wedding a 'princess' of one to the 'king' of another. It happened quite often in the past, and it should have been where her mind went first as the logical reason behind marrying Thor.

But she hadn't even considered it in that light, because that wasn't the only reason, that wasn't even A reason, why Thor wanted to marry her nor she him. She thought on his love for her, hers for him, their bonds, their friendship and loyalty and care and connection. She thought on every other reason to wed him, because SHE wanted to wed him, instead of why it would be good for others if she did.

And that told her all she needed to know.

She loved Thor and she wanted to marry him, and that was the simplest, most important reason, for them to wed in the end. It didn't matter who else benefited from it, she would be happy as his wife and he as her husband and that was ALL that mattered.

Thor felt himself smile as well, feeling her hands ceasing their shaking in his hold, knowing her thoughts had turned to a more positive realm. He was even more certain of that when Athena stepped closer to him and leaned up, pressing her lips to his in a welcome surprise. He couldn't help but grin even more into the kiss, he could almost feel her happiness and love in it.

Athena pulled away, "Thank you," she whispered to him.

"You need not thank me," he lifted his hand to brush a lock of hair behind her ear, his knuckles ghosting across her cheek as he did so, delighting in how she closed her eyes in contentment at his action, "I would do anything for you."

"As I would you," she agreed softly, reaching up to grab his hand, lowering it as her eyes opened to look at him, a determined glint in her eyes, "Including stopping this," she told him, "Because you are injured, and I have yet to tend to you."

Thor chuckled at that, nodding his assent and moving to sit back on the bed, watching her pour the fine powder she'd cursed into one of the salves, stirring it for a few seconds before turning to him once more. He watched her, his eyes locked on hers as she grew closer, till she was kneeling before him, dipping her fingers in the salve and reaching out to lightly rub them into his bruised flesh.

He hissed, this time not from her touch but from…

"Cold," he muttered, the salve was freezing!

Athena smirked almost evilly at his reaction, "Serves you right for getting injured and hiding it from me," she shot him a teasing look…though it also held a warning in it that he had best NOT do that again.

"I think I have learned my lesson," he muttered, wincing as she kept adding more cold salve to his skin, even though it warmed up quickly, relaxing his strained muscles, it was still very startling when she added a new glop to another bruise.

He took a moment as she worked, her eyes trained back on his body, to observe her critically. She had noticed he was injured, but he hadn't seen any sign that she had been. He HAD looked, but he still wanted to be sure she wasn't displaying any of her tell-tale signs of injury, for if there was he would be sure to tend to them himself in return. But her face was relaxed, her lips weren't pursed, she was breathing easily, and the fact that she had been able to kneel down and move her arms with the ease she had told him she was truly fine.

Which had him releasing a breath of relief.

Athena glanced up at that, giving him a questioning look.

He merely offered her a smile in return, "I am glad you are not injured," he replied in answer.

She nodded, resting her hand on his thigh, squeezing lightly to use as leverage to stand, hiding a smirk at how his eyes had darkened hungrily at her teasing action by turning her back on him to walk over to the salves, putting the one in her hand away.

"Ironic, isn't it," she mused, putting the rest of the items back, "My armor covers less of me and yet I hardly get as injured as you."

"You are a skilled warrior," Thor's voice answered, before it grew as equally teasing as her touch had been, "You could wear nothing at all and still come out unscathed," she blushed, just KNOWING he was smirking now, "But, that would have nothing to do with your skill in battle."

"And everything to do with the enemy being so distracted it didn't see my sword coming at them," Athena tried to recover, though she was sure her voice gave away her blush.

Thor laughed, "Aye."

Athena cleared her throat, pulling a scrap of bandage off the supplies she'd brought and placing the rest in the bag, turning back to him when she was sure her face had returned to normal, "But I am not so uninjured as you think," she told him, returning the conversation to a safer topic.

Thor frowned, "Where are you hurt?"

"It is not so much a hurt as a weariness," she offered, kneeling before him again and gently wiping the salve off, smiling as she saw the effect the healing herbs of Olympus were having on his body, the bruises had basically disappeared already, in just moments of being covered with the salve.

It was funny, Asgardian medicine and healing technology were useless on her, but Olympian healing and medicine worked on Thor.

Thor began to nod, understanding what she meant, "It was a trying battle," she was tired, who wouldn't be? So was he now that he thought about it.

"You must be twice more exhausted than I," Athena reasoned, "You used more energy than I did, were dealt more blows…though they should feel better now, yes?"

Thor looked down at his abdomen and chest, his eyes widening to see the bruises were gone and his body, while feeling slightly warm as a result of the salve, felt more relaxed. It still amazed him the wonders of Olympian medicines.

"Aye," he agreed, returning his gaze to Athena, "In fact," a playful smirk began to grow across his face, "I am so tired, I don't believe I can get off this bed again."

Athena nodded, missing something in his words and tone as she began to stand, "Then I shall leave you to your rest…"

Thor quickly reached out and grabbed her hand, "Oh," he put on a mocking frown that had Athena lifting an eyebrow in confusion, "I seem to be too weak and tired to move my arms too. My hand is too weak to open."

Athena started to smile at that, shaking her head in amusement at his antics, "Then how shall I retire to my room to rest myself?"

"I fear you will not be able to," Thor told her, serious, as serious as he could be with the wide smirk growing across his face, "There is but one solution."

"And that is?"

Thor's smirk was full-blown now as he let himself fall back onto the bed, his grip on Athena's hand forcing her to be pulled suddenly with him, falling on top of him with a small oomph though she started laughing as Thor rolled to the side, his back to the door so that she would end up on the other side of him, needing to get past and over him to get off the bed now.

Athena shook her head as she looked at Thor, the two of them on their sides now, facing each other, "You could have just ASKED me to stay," she told him.

"You would say no," he replied easily, "Propriety and all. NOW though," he smiled at her, "Now you have no choice but to stay."

She let out a playful sigh, "I suppose I don't."

He gave a light chuckle, "What's this? The Wise Athene outsmarted?"

Athena reached out and shoved him lightly on the chest, the two of them laughing at his remark, "Perhaps I saw your ploy coming and allowed it to happen," she suggested.

"Hmm," Thor hummed, considering it, "No, I don't think you did."

"Your hand was 'so weak' that you couldn't let go?" she snorted at that, giving him an incredulous look, "Even you could do better than that Thor. And if it was so weak, I would have easily been able to pull away from it," she poked him on the chest for that one, "Maybe I wanted this," she mused quietly, sounding more serious than she had been only moments ago, looking at Thor's eyes with a thoughtful gaze, "Maybe I needed to rest beside you this time. After all that has happened, all that others have lost…"

Thor reached out, taking the hand that Athena had poked him with to entwine their fingers, "I needed this as well," he admitted, "I fear I could not rest so easily if you were not beside me, not after all we have endured on this quest."

Athena gave a light nod at that, "I love you Thor."

Thor smiled at that, they had said it mere minutes ago yet he knew he would never grow tired of hearing her say that to him, "As I love you," he lifted her hand he was holding to press a kiss to the back of it, "Rest well, Athena," he said softly.

Athena hesitated only a moment, before shifting closer to him, Thor tensing, unsure what she was doing, till she rested her head on his chest, just above his heart, listening to the gentle beats of it, allowing it to lull her to sleep as Thor wrapped his other arm around her, holding her close, allowing her warmth and scent to do the same to him.

~8~

Thor and Athena, dressed in their armor, came across Steve, still dressed in his Captain America uniform, and Tony, now in a black shirt and jacket, a coffee in hand, in the hallway, having been directed there by a passing SHIELD agent. They had guessed though, that those two would be the only two remaining available at the moment. Banner had remained the Hulk at the end of the battle and taken the jet Ultron had been using to flee, Natasha had seemed determined to try and track him down which was what she was probably doing at the moment. Athena was saddened to know she wouldn't be able to bid a proper farewell to her friend, but when Natasha was on a mission of sorts, she knew the woman would appreciate no distractions during it. And she doubted this would be the last she saw of the Avengers or Natasha in the long run anyway. Barton had, of course, returned home to his family the moment he could, something about seeing Wanda breaking down, having to be the one to hold her in his arms as she sobbed, had made him think of what she'd lost and what his family might have lost had Pietro not made the sacrifice he had. Wanda, as far as they knew, was spending time with Vision, the robot seeming to have gravitated to her, wanting to ease her pain, proving to all of them that he was truly NOT a child of Ultron, but something far better. Which just left Tony and Steve to sort out while the two of them had been resting up from their injuries before the time came to return home.

"Well there you two are!" Tony smirked as he saw them enter, "You know," he eyed them, "You two look remarkably well rested, is it that godly stamina?"

Thor glared at him for the innuendo, Tony just sending him a wink as he took a sip of his coffee.

But it seemed that, in that particular moment, Athena was either in too good a mood from her rest, or it had gone completely over her head, for she responded, "Well, we did sleep together."

Tony spat out his coffee in the middle of deep, wracking coughs as he nearly choked on the beverage, his eyes wide as he looked at Athena, clearly NOT having anticipated her to admit to what they'd done so bluntly, especially when he had really just been teasing them and didn't actually think they'd done THAT.

"Come again?" he gaped, his voice weak and scratchy from his near choke.

"We had an excellent nap," Athena stated, giving Tony a look that clearly told all the men there that his innuendo had, in fact, gone over her head, that she'd assumed he meant their stamina from the battle.

"Right, a nap," Tony nodded, "Of course you were napping. I knew that."

Steve just chuckled, patting Tony on the back, shaking his head at the man. This was something he would have to tell Pepper about, how the somewhat-crude Tony Stark had nearly choked on coffee at the thought of two gods doing the deed.

"Yes," Thor gave Tony a hard look, telling him NOT to make another remark like that again, "We are rested and ready to return to Asgard."

"We will need a wide, open space," Athena looked to Tony, "Unless you think SHIELD would like a compluvium…" she gestured above her, at the ceiling, indicating they could open the portal right there and send a hole through the ceiling.

"No, no," Tony shook his head, tossing the coffee into a nearby garbage can, "They'll probably take it as a sign of attack and well, attack."

"The front lawn is big enough," Steve glanced out the glass walls beside them at the expansive field just outside the base.

"Come on, it's this way," Tony turned to head down the hall, Thor beside him, with Athena on Thor's other side, Steve at the end of the line.

"So what are you going to do about the Mind Stone?" Steve asked. The two seemed to be able to leave, but they hadn't confronted Vision yet, as far as he knew.

"We have talked about it," Athena remarked, "And we shall entrust it to Vision," she couldn't help but smirk, "He is, after all, quite a _worthy_ guardian, do you not think?" she glanced at Steve and Tony, both had sour looks on their faces at the reminder that they hadn't been able to lift the hammer but Vision had.

"Yeah but the rules have changed," Steve argued.

"We're dealing with something new," Tony agreed.

"Well, the Vision's artificial intelligence."

"A machine."

"So it doesn't count."

"No. It's not like a person lifting the hammer."

"Right! Different rules for us."

"Nice guy, but artificial."

"Thank you."

Thor couldn't help but chuckle at the two men, they really were very determined to come up with some way to make what Vision had done not, well, what Vision had done. It did remind him of himself though, he had had his own bout of doubt about himself for Vision lifting Mjolnir. He could imagine that the other men were even more confused and felt a little less sure of themselves as a result.

But it couldn't be helped, Vision HAD lifted Mjolnir, and that meant he was worthy, to protect the Mind Stone at least.

"If he can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone," he stated, a determination in his voice.

"And to remove the Mind Stone is to kill the Vision," Athena reminded them all.

The Mind Stone was truly what brought the being to life, what made it as intelligent and in control of itself as it was. She could see that now, possessing the Mind Stone seemed to have made Vision more compassionate and good, more human, while being affected by the Mind Stone and created from a replica of the programming in it, had made Ultron psychotic. The Mind Stone needed to be full and complete, it had to be the real thing, or else they would risk Vision becoming like Ultron, it balanced Vision's artificialness with his realness, she thought.

"It's safe with the Vision," Thor added, "And these days, safe is in short supply."

"But if you put the hammer in an elevator..." Steve continued, making Thor and Athena chuckle at how dead set the humans were on explaining how Vision lifted the hammer in any other way besides him being worthy to do it.

"It would still go up," Tony reasoned.

"Elevator's not worthy."

"I'm going to miss these little talks of ours," Thor chuckled patting Tony on the back as they reached a door to the outside.

"Well, not if you don't leave," Tony glanced at them, "Really, both of you. You're welcome in Stark Tower, any time, we have the room."

"We must," Athena shook her head sadly, thankful for the offer and very touched that Tony seemed fond enough of them to not want them to go, "The Mind Stone, in the last few years, it is the fourth Infinity Stone to appear, to be placed into the path and hands of humans. It cannot be coincidence that all of them are coming together now at once."

"Aye," Thor agreed, having thought the same, it was infinitely suspicious to the both of them how the gems just kept appearing after having been thought to be lost, "Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. But once all these pieces are in position..."

"Triple Yahtzee?" Tony guessed, though his tone implied that he knew it was serious and dangerous a thing to happen.

Steve frowned, "You think you can find out what's coming?"

"We shall endeavor to try," Athena responded diplomatically.

"Besides this one," Thor patted Tony on the chest jokingly, "There's nothing that can't be explained."

He held out a hand to Athena, the two of them walking a few paces away from Tony and Steve, turning to face them to offer one last smile of goodbye, before Thor wrapped an arm around Athena's waist and lifted Mjolnir high above them, activating the connection to Asgard and sending them home.

Now they could only hope that they could indeed find out what was coming and stop it before any other innocents were endangered or harmed.

Between the two of them though, they were certain that no enemy stood a chance.

To be continued…in…TBA.

A/N: So the next story, I have two titles in mind, but till I see the next Thor movie, I can't say which one it will be, hence the TBA for the moment ;) I hope to get it posted about two weeks after the next Thor movie, so probably in 2017 ;)

As for this chapter, I hope you liked the little recovery moment for Thor and Athena :) I feel like it would be something they do now, help tend to each other's wounds after a battle, sort of a way to show they care :) But Tony, oh boy, I think that man has a death wish when it comes to teasing the gods lol.

One last note, to anyone reading my Once Upon a Time, Hook/OC (Lyssa) story, that will be resumed today, probably in about 10-12 hours and then will be updated every other day ;)

And to end, I just wanted to thank all of you, anyone that's read/reviewed/favorited/followed/anything this story. It really means a lot to me that you've enjoyed it and Athena so far :')

Some notes on reviews…

I was debating having Athena save Pietro, like how she saved Frigga, but in the end, I couldn't see her being separated from Thor a second time and she was just too far away to do it :( No wedding in this chapter just yet, but there's always hope for the next story };)

I loved Pietro too, he was a great brother to Wanda and a very amusing and lovable character :) I think it's mixed about how Pietro died, I've seen some responses about him using his body and others about why couldn't he doge the bullets, and it just confused me because he was moving a car, not even he is fast enough to do both unfortunately :(

Oh he's definitely the teasing bag I agree :) Though Tony seems to love teasing the gods too lol :) WWTW2 is the shortened title of my first Doctor Who crossover story Wibbly-Wobbly, Timey-Wimey where I crossed over my three OC stories and characters Angel, Evy, and the Professor. I plan to do a sequel to it, a part 2, of it in October, so I've taken to calling it WWTW2 :) And no worries, I understood ;) I plan to get through all of Steve and Bucky's stories through to the current movie when I post them. So for this year, we'll get Steve's OC from the first Captain America movie through Civil War (it should be out in theaters by the time I get to Steve's OC). And then I would continue into another show/story once I finish Steve's :) The same would be true for Bucky, but his OC won't be posted till probably next year though :)

We might see a wedding in the next story ;) If nothing comes up to disrupt it }:) Thor does seem to have bad luck with important ceremonies in his life actually happening though }:) We'll have to wait and see ;) And no worries, I actually had to double check the chapter to make sure I had put that note in or if I'd just completely forgotten lol :)


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